Picture Perfect Truth
by Fala-Li
Summary: A 21 year old Yuffie has her heart set on getting Vincent's attention. She recruits Reeve to help her, never realizing that Reeve has feelings for her. Can Reeve get her to notice, or is she too caught up with Vincent? Post DOC. Reefie. Yuffentine.
1. Chapter 1

This fic was fueled by playing Dirge of Cerberus, the one FFVII piece that actually has a sufficient amount of Reeve in it.

It is intended to be a Reeve X Yuffie X Vincent love triangle, but that won't go on for too long before it becomes a gradual Reefie.

For those of you who don't know who Reeve is – he's the man from Shinra behind Cait Sith who controlled the robot during its travels with the group in FFVII. It is stated many times in the game that Reeve DOES control Cait Sith, such as before Cait Sith sacrifices his little mechanical body to get the black materia out of the temple and states, "My real body's at Shinra Headquarters in Midgar. I'm controlling this toy cat from there."

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"AND IF YOU DON'T OPEN THE DOOR, YOU WON'T HAVE A DOOR ANY MORE WHEN IM THROUGH WITH IT!!! AND THEN ALL THE COLD AIR WILL GET INSIDE, AND YOU'LL BE JUST AS MISERABLE AS I AM!" Yuffie's screeching voice had neighboors pulling open their front doors to see what the commotion was.

"ARE YOU HEARTLESS? OPEN THE DOOR ALREADY! I'M ONLY DYING OF PNEUMONIA OUT HERE! REEVE, WHYYYYYYYYY AREN'T YOU LETTING ME IN?? I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!!!"

Shivers wracked Yuffie's body. She stood on his doorstep, soaked from head to toe, resembling a drowned cat. Her lips had turned blue, and her hands had lost feeling in them long ago.

"IF YOU LET ME INSIDE IN THE NEXT THIRTY SECONDS, I PROMISE I WON'T STEAL ALL OF YOUR MATERIA!!!!!!!!!"

Silence.

"YOUR NEIGHBOORS THINK YOURE THE WORST PERSON EVER! LEAVING A BEAUTIFUL, GORGEOUS, FANTASTIC GIRL FREEZING TO DEATH IN THE POURING, STORMING RAIN ON YOUR DOORSTEP WHILE YOU SIT INSIDE AND-"

The door swung open midsentence.

Yuffie found herself gazing up at a frowning Reeve for the few seconds before her eyes recognized that he wasn't exactly wearing his usual clothing. Reeve's hair clung wetly to his face, water dripping in rivulets down his bare chest until it reached the towel around his waist.

"If you wanted to see me half naked, you didn't have to interrupt me in the middle of my shower," he commented with a feigned annoyance. Then he took in the rain, the unlively tint to Yuffie's now purple lips, and the fact that her shivers were so rough that she was practically bouncing in place.

Grabbing her arm, he yanked her inside, waving over her shoulder with his free hand to the gawking neighbors.

At the contact with her skin, his hand nearly shot away. "Christ!" he exclaimed, "are you trying to freeze yourself to death? Because five more minutes on the doorstep might just do that."

For once in her life, Yuffie found herself unable to reply, her mouth occupied with chattering teeth. Grumbling under his breath, Reeve swooped her legs out from under her, unceremoniously hauling her through his house until he reached the bathroom.

Yuffie's frozen brain didn't have time to register what was happening until Reeve let go of her, dropping her into a bathtub filled nearly to the rim with steaming hot water. She went under with a gurgle, arms and legs flailing in the gigantic basin. At the first touch of the heat, Yuffie decided that she would love Reeve dearly for the rest of her life. None of his materia would go missing. Ever. Nope. Except for maybe that one realllly shiny...

Then another thought flew through her brain as she came to the surface for air.

"REEVE, DID YOU JUST THROW ME IN THE BATH WATER YOU'VE BEEN IN? GROSS! I DONT WANT YOUR DIRTY BATH GERMS! WHAT KINDA HYGENE DO YOU HAVE? AND WHY DO YOU HIDE THAT AWESOME CHEST UNDER ALL THOSE CLOTHES!"

Reeve grinned over his shoulder as he strode across the bathroom to turn off the shower that had still been running. "As much as I'd love to take a bath with you, I hadn't even finished rinsing off in the shower so I could get into the bath before you decided to pound my door down."

Ignoring the perverse jokes that were a part of who the older man was, Yuffie sunk as deep into the water as she could with her nose still above the surface. "Guess that explains why ya didnt hear me. Couldnt ya find a better time to take a shower? Like, when the number one most awesome ninja in the world isn't catching pneumonia out in the rain. Hey, nice towels. For a guy, you sure are color coordinated! Do you have any soap? How about shampoo? I think I have tree sap in my hair. Or scissors? We could just cut it out!"

Eying the fully clothed Yuffie in the bathtub, Reeve crossed his arms over his still bare chest. "How about you take off your clothes so you can bathe like a normal person first? Would you like me to help?" he suggested, artfully dodging the comb that she hurled at his head.

Tossing a large blue towel at the edge of the bathtub, Reeve moved to the door. "Take your time, Yuf's. I'll order some take-out; you need some meat on that frame of yours, as delicious as it is."

Yuffie had grown accustomed to the teasing comments that Reeve gave her. She knew they were just his way of interacting with people; he wasn't really a whore like Reno who hit on every woman with an ass. In fact, she rather enjoyed the banter; even though he didn't mean what he said, it made her feel like at least someone acknowledged her as a woman, and not just a bratty little girl.

The door shut before she could reply, and Yuffie peeled off her clothing, satisfied with the slopping sounds the articles made when they hit the tile floor. Thankful that feeling had returned to her limbs, she splashed around in the enormous tub for a while, amazed at how big it was, pretending she was a fish and not paying any heed to how much water sloshed over the edges.

Only when she was wrapping the towel around her body did she realized that there was the slight problem of the fact that she didn't have any dry clothes. There was no way in hell she was puttin on the freezing mess that would be her drenched clothes! She'd rather run around butt naked!

That was when she saw them - the clothes that Reeve must have been wearing before he removed them to shower. Bending over, she picked up the white button-up dress shirt that had been discarded. Raising it to her face, she took a whiff of it - it didn't smell gross or sweaty, just faintly of Reeve, so she figured it didn't really qualify as being "dirty".

So it went over her head, making her grimace as it went down to her knees. Why'd she have to be so damned small? No wonder Vincent didn't like her. She was tiny. But weren't guys supposed to like tiny girls? Didn't the whole holding a fragile, small, delicate woman in your arms make them go crazy in a good way? Obviously, there was something wrong with her version of small.

Lamenting momentarily over her lack of underwear, Yuffie retrieved her wet pair, ringing them out and then hanging them over the shower door to dry out.

When Yuffie bounced into Reeve's living room wearing nothing but his white button up shirt with the first button undone, the man choked on the cup of coffee he'd been taking a drink of.

Raising an eyebrow, she leaned over him, exposing an exaggerated view of her small breasts. Coughing viciously, Reeve averted his eyes, trying to find a way to breathe. "What's wrong with ya? You gettin sick or somethin? And here I thought I was the one with pneumonia. Should I be dragging you to into bed?"

At the last sentence, Reeve decided he was going to die from lack of oxygen before the night was through.

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	2. Chapter 2

Wrestling with the orange in her hands that she was currently waging a war with - who knew the things were so damned hard to peel ??? - Yuffie grumbled her story out to Reeve.

"And ya know what? I step into Vinnie's beaten up old run down house, and who waltzes right into the freakin room? Miss underground I-got-to-bring-Vincent-home-from-the-cave-of-his-dead-woman-he-obsesses-over-whose-in-my-head girl!!!!!!!! Why was SHE in his house? He doesn't ever ask ME to come visit!"

A frustrated screech tore through her lips as squirts of orange juice flew into her eyes. She only had a minute section of the orange peeled, and it was already defeating her!

Whining, she raised one hand to her eyes, wishing that orange juice didnt burn so freakin bad. "I hate you! Is the world against me?? Even the oranges?? What did I ever do to you?? So I want to eat you! That's what your for! Get over it!"

Reeve plucked the orange out of the frustrated ninja's hand, deftly peeling the remaining skin off in one piece before splitting it in half and handing it back to a suddenly shocked and only momentarily silent Wutain.

"...figures." Yuffie grumbled as she began to stuff her face.

After getting over the immediate shock of Yuffie donning his shirt, Reeve had tried his best to ignore the fact that the twenty-one year old girl was wearing it. Thinking about it only brought up possessive feelings that he had to shove aside - thoughts that couldn't co-exist with the girl's obsession with Vincent Valentine.

"I mean, what's so wrong with me? She has a ten year old's body, for god's sake! I know I'm not Tifa, not a fifth of Tifa, but I do have boobs! I mean so they're not much more than a handful... but they're bigger than Shelke's!!!"

Reeve tried not to sputter through his mouthful of orange as the girl animatedly grasped handfuls of her small breasts through the thin white shirt - HIS thin white shirt - bouncing them up and down in her hands as much as they would allow.

"Handfuls are good," he sort of croaked, his voice strained. "It doesn't always have to be a big handful to make a guy happy. If one fits in each hand - which apparently you're doing a good job of showing they do - any guy should be satisfied."

With her hands still groping herself, Yuffie frowned up at him. "Your voice sounds kinda funny. Are you sure you're not getting sick?"

Glad that Yuffie didn't notice his reaction, Reeve tried to distract himself from the young girl before him by continuing. "Besides, you've got nice slender legs. A guy can do a lot with that."

Still frowning, Yuffie leaned back, lifting one of her legs into the air, his shirt slipping far enough down her thights to make Reeve let out a tortured groan that thankfully didnt reach her ears.

"I guess they're skinny. And kinda long. For me bein so short, and all. Do you really think they're attractive?"

Trying to look anywhere aside from the shining skin in front of him, Reeve thought he managed to mumble some kind of an encouraging reply to her.

Yuffie plopped a second orange into her hands. She glanced at it warily, then eyed Reeve; he took it and once again peeled it for her and handed it back split into two halves.

Yuffie chatted her way through five oranges before Reeve stood up.

"I'll be right back. I have a call to make."

"Ooooh, is Reeve calling a woman? What's she look like? Is she hot? Is she blond? Or brunette? I bet she has nice boobs! Are they a handful? Do they-"

Pulling out his PHS, Reeve scrolled through his caller list and selected a name, closing his bedroom door behind him.

"Hello?"

"Hi Elena. I'm calling in a favor."


	3. Chapter 3

"Hi Elena. I'm calling in a favor."

"Sir?"

"You remember Yuffie Kisaragi?"

Reeve could almost hear her smiling over the phone.

"Who could forget?"

"Think you know what size of clothes she wears?"

"………..I imagine so, sir."

"Great. Now for the love of god, please locate the clothing store nearest to you and find something for her to wear. Anything. As long as it includes underwear, something to go over that, and a shirt. Maybe a few of each. Just to be safe."

"…Sir? You want me to buy Kisaragi underwear?"

"As much as we all love her traipsing around the house without any on, YES."

A solid thump was heard from the other line; Reeve wondered if Elena had fallen out of a chair.

"She walked here from Valentine's, Elena. All her clothes are soaked through."

"Oooh. I see."

"Think you can get me something by tonight?"

His response didn't come for a while, and he could hear Tseng's voice in the background.

"I'll see what I can do."

When Elena hung up the phone, she found herself the object of Tseng's attention.

"What'd he want?"

"He needs me to buy him underwear?" Elena repeated, slightly amused, until she realized

what she had just said and who she had said it to.

Elena gasped. Tseng's eyebrows narrowed.

"Not for him, Sir! For Miss Kisaragi!"

Tseng's eyebrows took a turn-around and raised high.

"Ah! I mean… you see.. well…it seems she was caught in the rain for the entire day… so her clothes were soaked through…I'm going to take Rude with me, if that's alright, Sir?"

Tseng nodded.

When Reeve returned to his living room, it was to find Yuffie perched on his couch with her legs tucked under her, tossing an orange up into the air repeatedly. She handed it to him once he sat down, and began rattling off her latest plans to him.

"So you see, I have it figured that he must like girls like Lucrecia. Lucrecia was a scientist, right? So maybe he likes smart girls. So maybe if I get really, really smart, he'll be like, wow, that girl's smart! I'd like to marry her and have her babies! And then I'll be like hooray! It worked! I'm smart, and Vincent loves me!"

Yuffie stared at Reeve and was only met with him pressing the orange into her eager hands.

"I don't think that's quite it," Reeve suggested.

"Okay…then…it must be… the clothes! Maybe I should go shopping, and get a really short skirt and a white lab coat! What else… Lucrecia had long hair so… maybe… a wig!! Yeah, that's it!"

Once again Yuffie awaited Reeve's approval.

"Nah," he replied, "a wig would just get in the way when you start having mad, hot sex."

"Hmm. Good point." Not that she'd know anything about mad, hot sex. Or sex. At all. Damnit. Must be the boobs – Reeve said handfuls were ok…but…hmm…

Reeve really did want to help her. Really. It just grated his nerves to have to help set her up with another man. But he knew Yuffie's heart was set on Vincent… and what right did he have to decide that something else might make her happy?

With an exaggerated sigh, Yuffie let herself fall over so her head landed in Reeve's lap.

"We can try some different clothes," Reeve suggested. "Something that'll look so good he'll want to rip it off of you!"

Yuffie's grin as she bared her teeth at him in glee was enough of a reward to dull the pain that the suggestion of another guy touching her brought him.

But then she frowned.

"But what's wrong with what I wear now?"

"I figure maybe Valentine doesn't go for the tomboy look. You need something sexy."

Her nose crinkled. "Can I even pull off sexy?"

Reeve smirked.

Elena frowned when nobody answered the door. Glancing at Rude behind her, she waited for his approving shrug before testing the doorknob.

It was unlocked.

Letting herself in, Elena strode into the house, poking her head into the living room.

What she saw brought a shocked smile to her face.

Reeve was sitting in the middle of the couch, his head laid against the back, snoring lightly.

Yuffie was sprawled carelessly across his lap, her head cradled by his left elbow, face tilted up towards Elena.

Reeve's other arm was draped over Yuffie's waist.

Orange peels littered the floor, leaving no doubt in Elena's mind that the fruit was Yuffie's new obsession. Only that girl could consume so many oranges in one sitting.

Doing a double-take, Elena swung her vision back up to the slumbering figures on the couch, taking in what Yuffie was wearing.

Or rather, what Yuffie _wasn't _wearing.

Poor Reeve… no wonder the man had been desperate to get her clothed.

Grinning slyly, Elena stealthily pulled out her cellphone, aiming the built-in camera at the pair on the couch.

She cursed as it made a loud, abrupt sound that she had forgotten to silence as it took the picture. As fast as she could, she crammed the device into her pocket.

Reeve blinked up at her groggily before remembering that he had asked the woman to come over. When he looked down, finding his arm slung around Yuffie, he frowned momentarily.

Instead, he chose to look at the bags Elena held in her hands.

"You," Reeve commented slowly, "are a goddess. Please tell me there's underwear in that bag. Lots of it. And pants. Some good, good old pants.


	4. Chapter 4

Chewing her lip thoughtfully, Yuffie pondered the females in her life, and which would be best to take her shopping for "sexy" clothing.

First, there was Tifa. Tifa was sexy. But the thing with Tifa's sexyness was, Tifa didn't NEED sexy clothes. Her gigantic boobs took care of that for her! Yuffie scratched Tifa off of her mental list.

Next was Shera. Sweet, motherly Shera. Note two key words: sweet, and motherly.

Elena was classy, and knew how to dress. But sexy? The "rip off my clothes" sexy? Yuffie wasn't so sure that the professional woman would be so pervertedly inclined.

Who the hell was there to take her shopping for freakin sexy clothes? There was no way in hell Yuffie would be able to pick out "sexy" if her nose was right in front of it! She'd end up picking out something that screamed "I should have been born a boy, but I'll dress like a tomboy since I wasn't!"

Groaning, she leaned down to smack her forehead against her knees.

And that was when it hit her.

Sexy clothes? Female? Sexy…female… sexy female!

Ping.

Lightbulb.

A splitting grin grew on Yuffie's face. If anyone had been able to see it, they would have started running for their lives.

Reeve entered his office the following morning to find one strange thing out of place.

Frowning, he approached his desk, wondering why there was something there that normally wasn't. He knew he hadn't put that there.

Lifting up the newly added picture frame, Reeve felt shock take his face over.

It was a small picture – a 4x6 – that he never knew had been taken. He was asleep on the couch, with Yuffie and all of her limbs sprawled out over his lap. One of her hands had a grip in his shirt as she snoozed away, her face tilted up towards the camera.

His white button-up shirt thankfully covered her past mid thigh despite the wild placement of her legs, which half hung over the edge of the sofa.

Sitting down in the chair behind his desk, Reeve held the picture frame in one hand and put his other hand over his face. What was he supposed to do about this?

It was a lot easier to pretend that he didn't feel for the exuberant ninja when she was out of sight. Sure, he missed her… but at least she wasn't parading around in his shirts and gazing up at him so trustingly with her dark eyes. Things like that made it one hell of a task not to put one hand on the back of her neck and kiss her senseless.

And why shouldn't he? Yuffie needed someone who could enjoy her exuberance and take it in hand, not simply _tolerate _it like Vincent did.

But that wasn't his decision to make. So he would let her have her shot at Vincent, and wait to see what would happen.

Little did Reeve know just how much more difficult the situation could get for him, or what Yuffie was currently up to while he was at a day in the office.

But he was about to find out, first-hand.


	5. Chapter 5

Before the knock resounded on Reeve's office door, he had been having a successful day of work so far.

Before the knock resounded, Reeve had accomplished so much that he hadn't even stopped for a lunch break yet – not while he was on such a roll.

Before the knock, Reeve was entirely sure that having Yuffie jiggling handfuls of her breasts while wearing nothing but his white button-up shirt was the worst it could get.

Before the knock, Reeve was very, very wrong.

"What is it?" he asked loudly, not looking up from his computer.

The door opened, and when silence met his question, Reeve looked up to see Rude standing tall in the doorway.

Rude's face seemed to be contorted into somewhat of a frown.

"Miss Kisaragi is here to see you," Rude told him plainly.

Reeve raised an eyebrow. "You know she can come in at any time. There's no need to make her wait for my approval."

Rude cleared his throat, in a way that Reeve could have almost sworn was nervous.

"… Considering circumstances, I decided she needed an escort."

Curiosity sparked in Reeve's mind. He should have noticed that the quiet building had suddenly grown a bit noisier than usual.

Before he could ask Rude what the "circumstances" were, a blur of black came flying in the door and tripped over… nothing at all. But tripped none-the-less.

Rude reached out just in time to stop Yuffie from face-faulting into the floor, trying to keep his hands on the few parts of her that were clothed.

Glaring at the high heels Yuffie had never before dared to don, she straightened, suddenly making Reeve very glad he was sitting down.

Wisely, Rude left and closed the door behind him.

Yuffie was wearing… what most certainly could not be a called a dress. No – a dress had FAR much more material to it than what she was sporting now.

The "dress" hooked around the back of her neck. It parted in a V that bared her skin all of the way down to her damned bellybutton where the gap finally ended, exposing enough of her chest, stomach, and small breasts to make them more than tantalizing.

A girl didn't need big breasts for that dress to floor any living, breathing man. The cut was built to flatter her slender, exotic figure.

As if that wasn't a shock enough, the "skirt" of the "dress" from the frontal view left Reeve to wonder if it entirely covered her ass in the BACK.

As Yuffie took wobbly steps forward, Reeve also noted the slit in the left side of the "dress" that reached well up to her hips.

For once in his life, Reeve found himself rendered unable to speak.

"Gawd, these high heels are murder! How do girls stand this crap? I mean, I guess they're good cuz I'm so damned short, and Scarlet said they do a number for my long, slender legs-"

Reeve heard one word in that paragraph that stood out.

**Scarlet.**

Suddenly, it made sense.

"-but shit, I can barely walk! Not to mention I'm afraid my little boobies are going to pop out and say hello to the world with every step I take! So, what do you think? Rude just stared at me. I don't think it was very good, because he was frowning. No, I think he was scowling. Yup, scowling. I mean, what does-"

"Scarlet."

Reeve put his face in BOTH of his hands before standing up.

"You let Scarlet pick something for you to wear?"

Yuffie frowned at him, her confidence slowly waning. "Well, I figured, sexy woman, and I figured I didn't' know that many. I mean, Tifa's just sexy cuz she has boobs, Aeris is kinda, well, dead, Shera would probably have a heart attack, Elena probably would die of embarrassment-"

She cut off as Reeve removed his jacket, moving behind her to put it on her shoulders.

"What are you doing?"

"You're cold."

"I am?"

"Very."

"…does this mean you don't like the dress? Dangit, I figured Scarlet wouldn't lead me astray. I knew it, I just can't pull off sexy like she can. Figures – she's got the boobs. And the hips. And the…well..the… body. Why are you covering me up? Is it THAT bad?"

Reeve had shoved her arms through his jacket sleeves and proceeded to button up the front of it.

"Where are the clothes Elena bought you?"

"At your house. Why?"

Figuring there were clothing stores closer than his house, Reeve put one hand on Yuffie's back between her shoulder blades and began to escort her out of the building.

Incredulous stares followed them as they went through the lobby and down several

elevators. Several MALE stares, which left Reeve to deduct that by Yuffie's constant

ramblings, she really was oblivious to what she had flounced around in front of half the male population. And to what their enthusiastic response had been.

The duo had successfully made it onto the sidewalk across from the shopping center when Yuffie froze in place, not moving beneath Reeve's hand and not taking another step forward.

She was flying off in another direction before he had a chance to breathe.

"VINNIE!!!!!!!!!!!" Her squeal of delight followed her as she ran towards a familiar, red-cloaked figure.


	6. Chapter 6

As I've said before, this will end as a Reefie. Don't like? Don't read. There are plenty of Yuffentines out there to find.

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"VINNIE!!!!!!!!!!!" Her squeal of delight followed her as she ran towards a familiar, red-cloaked figure.

Then came case 2 of Attack of the Highheels.

Yuffie went sprawling forward, giving half the street a good view of her butt as the jacket and dress flared up in the back from the wind.

Reeve resisted the urge to pound his head against the corner of a building, wondering for the life of him why he couldn't get Yuffie to keep underwear on.

Vincent steadied Yuffie by catching one of her shoulders before she could smack into his chest, noticing that the man's jacket – Reeve's by his lack of attire – she wore slipped down on one shoulder, revealing the strap of her dress and a slip of very bared chest.

His gaze wandered down to her legs, which were very much bare from the mid-thigh down. That was nothing new, though; Yuffie's attire always consisted of very short shorts.

But instead of leg warmers, or knee highs, or tall boots, Yuffie wore nothing on her calves. Instead of any boots or shoes that might resemble something a ninja would wear, the girl was wearing a pair of heels that explained her exaggerated lack of coordination.

Before she opened her mouth, Yuffie narrowed her eyes.

Scan road to the left.

Scan to the right.

To the back…to the front…

NO SHELKE IN SIGHT!

"So, Vinnie, where are ya going? You aren't visiting Rufus, are ya?"

Taking his hand off of her shoulder, Vincent shook his head.

"No. I'm going to 7th Heaven."

Yuffie sidled closer to him, just enough so that her arm was brushing his side.

"Ooooh! I haven't seen Tif's in forever. Or Cloud! Can I come? I can, right? I know she won't mind! Maybe I can help her run the bar! I wonder if they've heard from Cid lately…"

Reeve took the opportunity to cut in.

"Well, if she's going with you, Valentine, I'm going to get back to work."

Yuffie looked up at him, and one hand went to the jacket. "Guess I'd better-"

"No!" Reeve started a little too enthusiastically, before Yuffie could undo more than the first button. "Uh… I have an extra one inside. Keep it on so you don't get cold again."

Shrugging, Yuffie relented, remembering his negative reaction to the dress. "Well, if you see Scarlet, tell her thanks anyways. I'm sure she tried! By Reeve!"

It wasn't until Yuffie and Vincent were quite a ways down the street and Reeve was long gone that Yuffie put both hands to her head.

"Crappies!" she exclaimed. "My clothes are at Reeve's! What am I supposed to wear? Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

Vincent looked sideways at her, his eyes slightly narrowing as he tried to imagine why her clothes might have ended up with the man.

"Borrow Tifa's."

Yuffie glared up at him. "…I'm too small."

"Marlene's?"

…."….if I didn't know you better, I might have laughed and thought you were joking."

Then again… Yuffie put one hand to her chin, frowning thoughtfully. Two years ago, she had tried some clothes on from when she was twelve; she had still fit in them. They were a tiny bit tight on the chest, but aside from that…

How depressing.

"So, what brings you to visit Tifa and Cloud? Did they bribe you or something to get you to come? Or are there more people popping out from the ground to terrorize us again? Oooh, ice cream….. nah, it's too cold for that. Wait, who am I joking?"

Vincent found his arm the sudden captive of a very enthusiastically running Yuffie who dragged him mercilessly behind her as she darted off to the ice cream vendor.

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Thank you so much to Gining, Jingyee, MakotoJinx, blueravenchick, and snipergal7 for the reviews! I was worrying that maybe nobody would end up reading.

Gining: You know? I think Scarlet IS dead. I'm a little hazy on the game… it's been years… I was going to have fun having Shera or Tifa take her shopping, when the name Scarlet just popped into my head. Low-cut, booby red dress wearing female. Perfect!

Plus I figured if Rufus can magically come back from the dead, so can she! If only so Yuffie has a skimpy dress to wear. Thanks for your input.

Jingyee: Thank you! Reviews encourage me to update more quickly. Now that I know somebody's reading it, I'll be more than happy to continue it!

Makotojinx: Hehe, thanks! I've always wanted to write fan fiction… this is my tester fic to see if I'm capable of attracting any readers at all.

Blueravenchick: Oh, trust me, I will update soon! This story won't stop running through my head. Ah, all of the possibilities! Thanks for reviewing 

Snipergal7: I'll take the death threat as a compliment since I guess you want more of the story! Yes, Vincent will be in the next chapter. A lot. I apologize for having a lack of him so far – the story does need the chapters it's had to work it out first! Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

Tifa beamed when Vincent walked through 7th heaven's doorway followed closely by Yuffie, who had an icecream cone in each hand and was trying to finish off the first one before it melted.

Marlene perked up at the sight of icecream.

"Ooooohhhh," she started, sliding close to Yuffie. "Can I have the other one?" the girl asked, pointing to the untouched cone.

For a moment, Yuffie's face wilted. But she handed the cone to Marlene, whose grin was so big that Yuffie couldn't help but smile back.

"Sit down and I'll get you guys something warm to drink," Tifa said as she went to wait on a table.

They sat down next to each other on barstools, and Yuffie felt a pang of jealousy as Marlene edged her way next to Vincent, tugging on his cape. The man held out on arm so Marlene could duck under it and lap at her icecream cone inside of her favorite little shelter.

Why didn't _she _get to use Vincent's cape? Soooo not fair.

When Tifa came back behind the counter, she pulled out three mugs and began to fix something for them.

"Is that Reeve's jacket you're wearing?" Tifa questioned.

"Yeah…..uhh… industrial accident?" Yuffie offered, not willing to give up the details of what she was covering up. She didn't want Vincent to see her – everyone else had thought it was horrible!

"And why are you wearing stilettos?"

"……whattos?" At Tifa's pointed gaze, Yuffie realized she meant her shoes. "Oh. Uh…. I was going undercover. Yeah."

Tifa set down the three mugs, which were now full to the rim with hot chocolate. At the sight of the warm concoction, Marlene immediately clambered her way up onto Vincent's lap, reaching for her own mug.

Yuffie couldn't help but scowl at the younger girl. Vincent would probably be uncomfortable if _she_ tried to get that close to him. It was no fair! Marlene only got to because she was so little. Yuffie was little too! Just not in the same way! Argh!

It was right about then that the door to 7th heaven opened again, and something far too small to be a person burst in.

The scratching sounds alerted Tifa, and she, Vincent, and Yuffie turned to look at the newcomer.

Cait Sith was dragging in a bag far bigger than his small cat-like body, and Yuffie instantly brightened.

"MY CLOTHES!" Bouncing over, she picked up the bag, hauling Cait up with her. "I don't have to wear Marlene's clothes!!!!" Yuffie wailed happily. "My underwear's in there too, right?"

Cait scrambled down from the bag. "Everything's in there except for your old clothes!"

"Yay! Underwear! Did you get the pair on the shower door too?"

Cait Sith seemed to sputter. "YOU LEFT A PAIR ON MY SHOWER DOOR?"

Vincent once again narrowed his eyes as he watched the puppet Reeve was in control of exchange a conversation about underwear with Yuffie.

"I'll take that as a no. But I have the rest of my undies, so it's okay! And my boots! Ah, my beloved boots, how I've missed you!"

Thoughtfulness lit up Yuffie's face. Now that she had her clothes, she could change out of the hideous dress. It didn't matter if they saw her in it for a minute; she'd been out of it soon enough.

The buttons were undone before Cait could utter any warnings.

Reeve's jacket was tossed onto Cait Sith's head, momentarily blocking him from the reactions of the people around him. Leave it to Yuffie to strip in the middle of a bar.

A glass shattered as it hit the floor.

Tifa stared.

Vincent stared.

Tifa covered Marlene's eyes.

"Thanks for the jacket, Reevie! I'm gonna go change into something Elena got me."

She had turned around to go upstairs when she caught Vincent's hard, unrelenting stare.

Wordlessly, he kept his gaze fixed on Yuffie, who was starting to fidget and look like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Jeeze! If you think I look that bad in a dress, you could just tell me, okay? It's not my fault I make a horrible girl!!!!"

A very distressed Yuffie scrambled up the stairs, tripping several times over her high heels before making it into the hallway, disappearing into an extra room.

Uncovering Marlene's eyes, a very stunned Tifa looked to Vincent to gauge the man's reaction. His vision was still focused on the top of the stairs, where Yuffie had disappeared.

"I think we hurt her feelings. She seemed to be under the impression that the dress was unflattering, and we were staring at her because she looked bad."

Tifa wondered for a moment if her explanation fell on deaf ears. Vincent heard her, but was occupied with the realization of why Reeve had been so eager to keep his jacket on Yuffie.

Vincent felt a twinge of anger that every male in the bar had been fixated on Yuffie's slender, nearly-naked form.

"Yuffie was wearing a dress? I wanna go see! I bet she looked pretty!" Marlene suggested, wriggling her way out of Vincent's lap.

Tifa came around the corner to stop her.

"She looked very… pretty," Tifa agreed. "But I think we hurt her feelings, sweetheart. Vincent should go check on her, okay?"

Red eyes turned on crimson.

Tifa smiled encouragingly.

It took a minute, but Vincent reluctantly made his way to the stairs, never seeing Tifa's cunning grin behind him.

This was perfect; Vincent needed a shove in Yuffie's direction. Tifa knew Vincent held Yuffie in esteem; all of them did. She was the youngest in their group, and they all treasured her as the one who kept them in high spirits whenever things began to look nasty.

Step one: realize Yuffie no longer had the body of a sixteen year old girl.

Someone else had beaten Tifa to accomplishing that goal. And by the way Vincent hadn't been able to look away from her, he had to have realized something.

Now, to move on to step two….


	8. Chapter 8

This story will have Yuffentine in it, but ultimately I want it to end up with Reeve getting Yuffie.

Which seems to be the case with most of the reviewers too.

If you aren't one of those reviewers – I have already put in twice that it will be a Reefie fic. So stop reading now if you haven't already if that will make you mad.

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When Vincent knocked on Yuffie's door, he heard a grumbled "Yah yah you know how to open the damn thing," and took that as Yuffie's form of an invitation inside.

She had her back to the door and was wriggling into a long-sleeved turtleneck as he closed the door behind him. Jean shorts had already replaced the dress she had worn earlier, and the high heels were long gone, replaced by a sturdy pair of running shoes.

"You know, Tiffs, this just gets hella annoying. I act myself. Doesn't work. So I put on a skimpy dress, and he stares at me like I'm an idiot. What's a girl gotta do to get a guy to notice her?" Yuffie rambled.

"I dress up and I get clothing shoved at me with people begging for me to cover up. What's with that? Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

It was about then that Yuffie realized that "Tifa" was entirely too silent.

As she turned around, she felt like she was in one of those horror movies where the main girl slowly turns to find her killer with blood-dripping knives in his hands behind her.

Her eyes found Vincent, and she groaned and rolled her eyes.

"You could've said you weren't Tifa."

"…."

"Are you going to stand there, or did you come up here for a reason?"

"It didn't look bad."

"What?"

"The dress."

"Uh…huh…I'm sure that's why everyone tried to shove clothes onto me. To cover me up. Because it looked real good. You don't have to lie to make me feel better, you know."

"…I suppose you could say it was a little…revealing."

"….really? I hadn't noticed. Your point?"

"….In what men would consider…. an attractive way."

"And everyone stared at me like that WHY, then?"

"……."

"Oh. OH. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

Yuffie felt like it was her turn to hit her head against a table corner. NOW she understood

why Reeve had wanted to cover her up; it HAD been sexy, and he hadn't wanted other men to be leering at her!

THAT was it!

It made a lot more sense now.

Yuffie grinned. She had made one guy drop the glass of beer he was holding; now that she knew that the reactions and blank stares had been positive, that made her giddy. So men could think that she was attractive if she wore the right thing.

But staring up at Vincent, she wondered if he had been one of the men who thought she was attractive. Or was he the only one who didn't?

From the even expression on her face, she was beginning to doubt that. But he HAD

stared at her earlier, hadn't he? In fact, she remembered that he couldn't look away.

And now he had come upstairs to try to fix her offended state. Did that mean something?

But Vincent only stood there, stoic as always.

Yuffie sighed.

The sexy plan had gauged some reaction from him; now she needed to think of a way to aim it at him so he was forced to react.

Because he obviously wasn't tearing off her clothes and trying to have his way with her.

She'd figure out something.

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Reeve, unfortunately, couldn't say that he had accomplished that much work today after he had left Yuffie.

Running his hands through his hair, he glanced again to the picture frame on his desk. He wasn't sure what Elena was trying to achieve by putting it there. Looking at it made him feel a sense of peace, and yet, tortured him with the realization that he might never be Yuffie's equivalent of what Vincent was.

A soft knock resounded on his door, and Elena stepped in.

"If I may, Sir?" she questioned, gesturing to one of the seats on the opposite side of the desk.

Reeven nodded. "By all means."

The blond woman cleared her throat. "Forgive me if I'm overstepping my boundaries…."

"Go ahead."

"…I think she's young. No, by young, I don't mean she's a child; I mean she's inexperienced. She may think she loves Valentine, because one-sided infatuation is all she's ever known."

Reeve swallowed through the growing lump in his throat.

Elena picked up the picture on the desk, touching the side of it gently, and Reeve could see a wistful expression on her face.

"Just think about it." Setting the picture back down on his desk, Elena straightened her jacket, stood up, and walked out of his office.

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Jingyee: I'm having a hard time deciding who I want her to end up with too. For now, I think I'll put in a lot of both pairings just for the added frustration and development of the story. D Yup, Reeve's still got her underwear. Hehehehe. Thanks for your reviews, again. )

MakotoJinx: I love Yuffentines too. But this Reeve idea just keeps developing, and I keep becoming too attached to it. I think it's his personality. It's so much easier to imagine Yuffie with him, and very sweet. I'm really glad to hear you love the story! Thank you for taking the time to review and tell me that.

Strych9: I think people are going to hate me too when I end up with Reeve ultimately getting Yuffie. He may not be as sexy, but I just like the easy way that their characters can interact. Thanks for reading!

Nami7623: Glad I can make you laugh. I hope you won't hate the story if she ends up with Reeve. But trust me – you will get quite your fill of Yuffentine along the way.

Simple Simplicity: I think I've been converted… I want this to end up as a Reeffie. Thanks for recommending me to more readers! Your reviews really encourage me to keep writing. And I'm glad to hear that people want Reeve to end up with Yuffie – I was wondering if I was the only one, and if people were going to abandon me when they realized Vincent just might not get the girl.


	9. Chapter 9

Yuffie wriggled around in the twin bed, wondering why the hell her small body could never seem to generate any goddamn body heat. She must have had nine blankets piled on top of her, and yet, she was cold as a fish.

It had been almost an hour since she had crawled into the bed, too. She wriggled around until she was facing to the left, glaring at the twin bed across the room where Vincent was sleeping.

If he was sleeping.

Yuffie bet that Vincent wasn't freezing _his _arse off inside of _his_ blankets.

……._inside of _his_ blankets…._

Yuffie chuckled quietly to herself, a splitting grin growing on her face.

It came without warning.

One minute, Yuffie had been several feet away on her own twin sized bed. In the next instant, Vincent felt a rush of air as the blankets at his back lifted up, and then suddenly, there was a cold ball of Yuffie curled up along his back.

"…Yuffie?"

"Yup?"

"…what are you doing?"

"Trying not to freeze to death. You wouldn't make me freeze all night, would you?"

"……."

When Vincent didn't verbally protest, Yuffie grinned and decided to go for one step further. Vincent was laying on his side, faced away from her.

So she clambered up over his side, and plopped herself in front of him with her back up against his chest. She kicked her legs back to tangle them inbetween his much warmer ones, and wriggled back so she was snugly fit against him.

"…..Yuffie…."

"What? I'm cold. Sheesh, calm down. I'm cold, you're warm. Suck it up, princess."

"…shouldn't I be saying that to you?"

"Vincent?"

"Yes?"

"Shuttup and sleep. Kay, thanks."

Yuffie reached back and grabbed his right arm, pulling it over her waist. Grinning widely, she took a hold of his wrist and plunked his hand down on her. Right on her chest. On her boobs.

"Yuffie." At Vincent's annoyed, harsh tone, Yuffie pulled his hand away, snickering to herself the whole time.

"Whoops sorry, it slipped."

Though he tried to pull his hand back, she readjusted it, slipping it underneath her turtleneck and laying it against her tummy.

"….."

"What? My tummy is cold too, you know, not just my back."

"…………….."

"It's just my tummy. You're not groping anything important."

"…you're not going to let go, are you?"

"Nope!"

"……"

As giddy as she was with her success, Yuffie was out like a light, fast asleep in a matter of minutes.

Once Vincent heard her light breathing that signified she was no longer awake, he tried once more to lightly tug his hand out of her hold. But the girl had a death-grip on it even during sleep, and with a sigh, Vincent relented.

Gining: Since the chapters I write are very, very short, I tend to upload one and then start writing another one. And even if there's only one person reviewing or enjoying it, I'll still post it up – as long as someone wants to read it ! I'd like to say Tifa and Elena are trying to work FOR her… hehe…she just doesn't know it yet.

MakotoJinx: I daydream over him too. Who can blame us? The man's dreamy. Thanks for your compliments, you're makin me blush P

Nami7623: You know, I've seen Elena portrayed in some stories as a complete ditz. From what I saw from Advent Children, she seemed like a fairly serious, intelligent and beautiful woman. I'm glad you won't hate the story!

Simple Simplicity: When I did a search for Reevie fan fics, I was aghast at how little there were! I didn't think the pairing could be THAT ridiculous. I was really surprised not many people had taken up that idea. He makes me drool. P


	10. Chapter 10

When Yuffie woke up, it was to find an empty place behind her on the bed. Frowning, she noted that the bottom of her turtleneck had been tugged down to its normal position.…

…but she could still feel a faint warmth where Vincent's hand had been.

Grinning, she hopped out of bed. He couldn't have woken up too long ago!

When she pattered down the stairs, it was to find quite a few tables filled with people socializing and chatting over what looked like it was brunch.

Glancing at the clock, Yuffie realized she had slept in until ten. Whoopsie.

Tifa was fluidly moving from table to table, checking on smiling customers and charming them all with her helpful manner.

Yuffie sat her butt on a bar stool and waited for Tifa to come around. When she did, the first words out of her mouth were, "Where's Vinnie?"

Tifa smiled. "Good morning, Yuffie. Vinnie and Cloud went to do some work for Rufus; they'll be back when I close the bar up for lunch break."

Sitting down next to Yuffie, Tifa put her chin in one hand and leaned forward. "So. Nice dress you wore yesterday."

Yuffie groaned. "Vinnie was supposed to see it and think omg, what a sexy girl! Let's tear her clothes off and have my way with her and then confess my undying love! Or maybe it should be the otherway around… err… either way, I sure didn't achieve much."

"On the contrary…..I think you got Vincent to notice you're a little more grown up than he had thought."

"Do you really think so?" Yuffie squirmed under Tifa's gaze.

"Trust me on this one. He noticed. It's just not Vincent to act on it. Which is why I think we need to step up another notch if you want to start getting a _real _reaction out of him."

The look on Tifa's face clearly said she was scheming something, but Yuffie was right up there with her.

"I think I have an idea. Like, a super awesome genius idea. Think you can help me out with it? Hehehehee….." Yuffie rubbed her hands together, scanning the breakfast crowd for the perfect candidate.

"If you're thinking what I'm thinking, then step two is to get Vincent to realize that if he wants you for himself, he'd better get to you before someone else does."

Both women grinned maliciously. "Exactly."

"Think it'll work? I mean, maybe he won't even care. Or maybe he'll get discouraged. I don't even know if Vinnie is capable of feeling jealousy. Especially not over me!" Yuffie wailed in distress.

"Oh, he'll feel it. Vincent lost one woman to another man. Do you think he'll do it again?"

"Let's hope this plan doesn't backfire. Do we have a plan B? I think we need a plan B. What's our plan B, Tifa? We have one, right? Or we will, right?"

"It won't backfire."

And so the two women put their heads together, conspiratorial grins on their faces, scheming like any good female is capable of.

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Cherry Blossoms River: Oh don't worry, I won't abandon the fic! I hate it when people do that, it drives me insane! Haha, I have to agree with you.. .as hunky as the dark angsty ones are, the playful adoring ones just take the cake. For me, too, at least. Yuffie will start coming around... even if it takes the help of some minor characters. P Thanks for reviewing!!


	11. Chapter 11

Warning: Chapter contains serious macking and angered men. You've been warned.

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If she had to guess his age, she's say twenty-six. A bit younger than Vincent before he'd started snoozing the years away in his coffin, and a handful of years younger than Reeve.

Yuffie paused to wonder why she'd made the comparison to Reeve.

Oh well. Who knew.

The guy had her backed up against one of the walls so that Yuffie was facing the doorway, which she really couldn't see because he was quite a bit taller than her. He had one hand on one of her slim hips, his fingers stroking it playfully.

Any minute now, Vincent and Cloud were supposed to be walking in through that door into what was an empty 7th Heaven – aside from Yuffie and her man-toy, that was.

Tifa had cleared out and closed the place for lunch, "mysteriously" disappearing to leave Yuffie and the guy to her genius plan of action.

Now, to incite Vincent's possessive demeanor.

In exchange for playing along with Yuffie's little game, the petite ninja had agreed to accompany the man to a social dinner. With a beautiful girl hanging on his arm, he had said that he would score major popularity points with his friends. So all she had to do was hold his arm, eat dinner, act like a piece of meat, and then she'd never see him again.

Very quiet footsteps alerted Yuffie that it was time to spring into action.

"They're coming! Ready?"

The man grinned. Yuffie felt jittery under his grasp, but if it was what she had to do to get Vincent's attention, then hey, she'd do it!

The timing was perfect; he had leaned down to plant a few kisses on her neck, and right as the door opened, he moved his mouth from her neck to her lips, leaning down and moving his mouth against hers.

_Hey_, Yuffie figured, _at least he doesn't slobber. He's a decent kisser._

Wanting to make sure that Vincent had plenty of time to take in the sight before him, Yuffie leaned her head back so the guy could turn her attention back to her neck again.

All of the sudden, the hand on her hip was gone as a rough hand grabbed the back of the man's neck, wheeling him away from Yuffie, who came face-to-face with a very angry, very stern face.

_Oh._

_Shitnizzles._

Reeve had the man by the back of his shirt collar, and gave Yuffie a look that told her she was in for it before dragging the sputtering male across the room and out the door.

Reeve.

Not Vinnie, Vincent Valentine.

Reeve.

_OhmygodohmygodahhhhwhatdoIdothatdidntworkoutthewayitwassupposedtowherethehellisVinnieandwhyisReeveohnoahhhh!_

Yuffie stood frozen in place, stunned, wondering why all of the sudden she felt a lot more ashamed and embarrassed.

7th Heaven's door slammed behind Reeve, and for a few long, stretched out moments, there was nothing but an eerie silence. Then Yuffie winced as she heard a slamming noise resound against the outer wall. Silence once again.

Then the door opened, and Reeve strode in, never once taking his eyes off of Yuffie, who suddenly felt that in order to save her own life, she should be turning tail and running away now.

She turned to do just that, but Reeve moved before she could get very far, catching her arm with a, "I don't think so."

Gulping, Yuffie slowly faced the man, wondering where his sense of humor and normally easy-going nature had disappeared to.

"Uhm. That wasn't what it looked like?"

Reeve said nothing.

"…I can explain?"

Still nothing.

Yuffie had to wonder why she felt so disgusted with herself, so disappointed over what she had done from the look that Reeve was giving her.

"…it was supposed to be Vincent walking in that door, not you…" Yuffie tried, wincing at how that sounded.

Reeve raised one stern eyebrow.

"All that just to get Valentine's attention?" he questioned.

Slowly, Yuffie nodded. "I thought… maybe he'd get jealous. And then maybe he'd realize his undying love for me?"

Reeve stared at her, long and hard, his hand still on her arm, his face turned down to look her in the eyes

"You want to make Valentine jealous? Fine. Let's see what it does."

Yuffie was given no warning.

Reeve pulled – not enough to hurt her, but enough to send her reeling forward – on her arm, sending her reeling into his chest. His other arm slid around her waist to her back, which he used to push her even closer.

His mouth descended upon hers before she could even think, making Yuffie's eyes widen in shock. His kiss was hard, at the first touch, because of his anger, she supposed. But it immediately softened, and Yuffie felt her knees growing strangely wobbly. If it wasn't for the hold on her waist, she might have been in trouble.

Yuffie found her mind so boggled by the fact that Reeve was kissing her – and doing a damn good job of it too – that she couldn't even wonder why she hadn't pulled away.

She was so consumed by it that she never heard the door open again, or the footsteps as another person entered 7th Heaven.

When the footsteps had stilled, Reeve gently brought his face away from Yuffie's, noting the softened and confused look in her eyes. "And that," he commented lowly so only she could hear it, "is what you get when you play games."

Releasing her, he turned and strode to the door, catching Vincent Valentine's eyes as he left Yuffie to find her own feet.

Reeve didn't stop until he was shoulder to shoulder with Vincent.

He didn't say anything. Neither of them had to; the pause was words enough.

Reeve left the door open as he strode out, and Vincent's eyes roamed over a thoroughly kissed Yuffie whose expression was drawn down in confusion.

Cloud stepped into the doorway, wondering why Vincent had stopped two feet into the bar. "Hey, Yuffie," he greeted as he saw the younger girl. "Where's Tifa?"

Silence answered his question, and he watched as Yuffie looked up and met Vincent's gaze, the two staring at each other intently from across the room.

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Simple Simplicity: There's some nice Reevie for ya. Thanks for keeping up with the story!

Makotojinx: Well.. that wasn't quite a date. But maybe that was somehow satisfactory.


	12. Chapter 12

Elena sat next to Reeve in what random bar they had pushed their way into at one in the afternoon on a work day, composed and momentarily silent.

"She's never going to talk to me again." Reeve groaned, letting his head smack against the high counter.

"So don't talk. There's better things to do with a girl than talk."

Reeve lifted his head up to stare at Elena, wondering if he had properly heard what he thought had just come out of her mouth. The woman grinned back at him. "Just kidding. I was seeing if you were paying attention."

Taking a sip of the glass of wine she held, Elena put her chin in her hand and thoughtfully stared ahead.

"I'm sure she probably has no idea why you kissed her. She definitely wasn't expecting it, and she's probably really confused. From her viewpoint, it seems like you were just messing around, and she's probably angry. Especially since Valentine witnessed the entire thing."

"Wasn't that the whole point?" Reeve grumbled sarcastically.

"For her. It certainly wasn't for you. And I'll believe I'm correct in assuming it didn't turn out quite the way she had planned. It's one thing for her to be seen kissing some random guy; another for her to be seen with you, someone she's close to."

Reeve let his head fall onto the counter again. Elena couldn't help but frown; she had never seen the man so worried and so regretful in her entire career of working with him.

"Sir, it was just a kiss. Do you really think that if she's mad at all, that Yuffie could hold a grudge against anyone for long? Especially you? You know she adores you… if not in all the ways you would like her to. You're one of her closest friends."

It was back, then, Reeve's laughter. "You're right. Yuffie is hardly capable of holding a grudge."

"She's going to feel a lot more awkward if you act like something bad happened between the two of you. I suggest you act like you normally do… Flirt. Joke. Make your usual suggestive comments. And leave it to her to see what she does."

"Elena?"

"Yes, sir?"

"When the hell did you start growing up and getting so smart?"

The blond woman smiled, her brown eyes softening.

"With all of you lumbering idiotic men around, someone has to glue you all together."

When Elena made her way back into the office, it was to find Tseng with a frown on his face. If she didn't know better, she would've sworn that the man was almost glowering at her.

"What did Reeve want?" he questioned.

"It was personal, Sir. He simply needed help."

"You've been spending a lot of personal time helping him lately." Was that jealousy she heard in his voice? Impossible. She had been batting her eyelashes at Tseng for years, and the man had never given her a second glance. Elena knew she was as hopeless as Yuffie's case with Vincent was.

"Is there a problem with that, Sir?"

"You have paperwork to do."

"I've never neglected my paperwork, Sir. Is there something I've forgotten to complete?"

"….No. Return to working on your project."

Elena sighed. "Yes, Sir."

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Tifa sat across from Yuffie, her eyes wide.

"Oh. I see," the older woman commented, not knowing what else could be said to comment on the story the ninja had just told her.

Silence.

"Uh…" It wasn't often that Yuffie found herself speechless.

"…..wow." Tifa neither.

"….yeah." There goes the intelligence.

"….wow."

"I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it... right?" Yuffie questioned.

Tifa thought it through for a moment. "Say Cid walked in the door instead of Reeve," she started. "I'm sure he would've had the same initial reaction, but probably a bit more violent. You're the youngest out of us, Yuffie; any of the guys would throttle a guy they found macking on you. I might even be so inclined, if I thought someone was taking advantage of you."

Clearing her throat, Tifa paused.

"Cid definitely wouldn't have kissed me," Yuffie added.

"That's sort of my point."

Silence.

"So why'd he do it?"

"…Maybe we should be asking him that," Tifa responded.

"Sure! I'll just waltz up to Reeve and say, Hey, I know you caught me snogging with some random guy in an empty bar, and then you proceeded to kiss me senseless, but why is that?"

Tifa shrugged. "It might clear a thing or two up. You never know until you try."

"He was probably just making his point," she grumbled. "I guess I'll be the first to admit that it was a pretty stupid idea to make Vincent jealous."

"That could be it. He might have been trying to prove the point that you don't dive into that kind of thing without getting results. And that it was pretty stupid of you. Of us," Tifa amended slowly. She agreed that in a strange way, it made sense. But she didn't quite think that it was the reason.

But she was going to find out

--------------------------------.

Cloud glanced up to the stairway where Tifa and Yuffie had disappeared into, arm-in-arm.

"I wonder why Reeve was in such a hurry," he commented, blue eyes wandering to Vincent.

He was met with no reply.

"I tried to say something to him but he just kept walking right by me. Did he say anything to you?"

"No." Vincent's reply was a little too short, a little too clipped, and left Cloud feeling like he was a little too out of the loop.

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Cherry Blossoms River: I think most women can be pretty dumb when they're in love. Or infatuated. Or something! Thanks for reading )

This Infernal Halo: Glad to hear you're rooting for "Team Tuesti" (that cracked me up) because that's what I think I want my final destination to be.I appreciate the review!


	13. Chapter 13

When Yuffie had finally gained the gall to go back downstairs, she had raised her chin high and acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. After all, it had been her plan to make Vincent jealous by having him see her in someone else's arms. It just hadn't been in the arms of the man she had quite expected.

And that was when it started – the subtle touches from Vincent that she had never before received. It was just a brush of fingers on her elbow, or his shoulder momentarily glancing across hers, but noticeable nonetheless.

Yuffie had been victorious. Vincent was paying attention to her, and if it was in miniscule ways, at least it was physical. A girl had to start somewhere.

The Wutain ninja had to wonder, as well, if that was the reason that Vincent was hanging around so much. Without a solid reason to stay, he had do so all day, seeming to be wherever Yuffie was.

By six in the evening the bar had resumed its crowd of hungry customers out for a bite to eat or a drink.

Reeve entered 7th Heaven to find Yuffie across the room, perched on a familiar stool on Vincent's right, the petite girl leaned over exaggeratedly so that their arms were brushing, chattering animatedly.

Without hesitation, Reeve took a seat on her right, waiting for Yuffie to realize that it was him.

It took her a few minutes, and then all of the sudden she popped her head to the side and turned to face him. Their gazes locked, and for a long while they only stared at each other, not saying a single word.

Vincent watched as something passed between Reeve and Yuffie, wondering what their solemn expressions signified. They continued, unmoving, to search each other's gazes.

And then Yuffie's face broke out into her beautiful, childish grin, and normality seemed to resume again. Reeve's lips turned up into an answering smirk, and he reached out to ruffle her hair.

Yuffie batted at his hand playfully. "You make me feel Marlene's age when you do that! And it makes me look like I just rolled out of bed!" she commented, laughing through the words.

Reeve's smirk widened. "Maybe that's why I do it. It makes a man feel good to see a beautiful girl with messy bed-hair. It's gotta mean he did a good job of something."

Catching the innuendo in his words, Yuffie smacked his arm. "Pervert."

Reeve threw an innocent look at her. "I don't know what you mean," he tried, and Yuffie snorted.

Cloud came around the corner from the kitchen right as Vincent began to wonder why he suddenly felt shafted. The blond-haired man found Reeve sitting at the counter, and lifted a hand in greeting.

"What are you doing here?" Cloud asked.

"I invited him over for dinner. On the house," Tifa commented, winking at Reeve as she carried over a pile of dirty plates in her hands.

Yuffie raised an eyebrow and grinned at Tifa. The two girls exchanged mischevious expressions before Tifa disappeared around the corner. _That scheming little genius, _Yuffie thought to herself silently.

"Why were you in such a hurry to leave earlier?" Cloud questioned, and Yuffie winced slightly. Out of the corner of her eyes, she tried to discreetly gauge Reeve's reaction to Cloud's question.

Reeve leaned back, putting both hands behind his head and locking his fingers together, grinning as he caught Yuffie's not-so-subtle glance.

"I guess you could say that I'd accomplished what I came to do," was his vague answer. Yuffie felt her face growing red and hoped dearly that nobody noticed. She now openly gawked at Reeve, wondering at his comment.

Looking past Yuffie's small form, Reeve caught Vincent's gaze and held it for a moment, never relinquishing the smirk on his face.

Tifa came back around from the kitchen just in time to hear Cloud ask, "What'd you come to do?"

Jumping into the conversation before Reeve could be forced to answer, Tifa exclaimed suddenly, "Well, I'm sure you guys are hungry! So, what'll it be, Reeve?" Tifa realized suddenly that she had never heard Yuffie be so quiet in her entire time of knowing the ninja.

"I'm sure Yuffie's starving," Tifa added, giving the girl a look that clearly suggested that Yuffie should start talking before more people could realize something was off kilter.

"I'm surprised ya can't hear my stomach growling!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Do you have any fruit? I really love fruit. Fruit is good. Fruit's my favorite. Except for pizza. But I really don't like the cheese. I don't understand why they can't just make the pizza without the cheese! It's gross! And stringy! And ruins the pizza!"

"Fruit?" Tifa repeated, not at all daunted by the amount of information one was forced to consume once Yuffie's mouth started working. "I think we have some…" The brunette disappeared once again before popping back out with a large bowl.

Yuffie brightened at the sight of oranges, her latest favorite conquest. Picking one up, she put it in her right hand and handed it off to Reeve without a second thought. Three pairs of eyes observed the pair as Reeve peeled the orange and split it in half, handing it back to Yuffie as if it was a practiced routine.

Vincent wondered to himself when Yuffie and Reeve had begun to spend so much time together.

"By the way," Reeve commented, "cute undies."

Yuffie's face turned into an instant tomato.

Before she could reply, a thoughtful expression appeared on Reeve's face. "Oh, wait. Were yours the lacy ones? Or the other ones?"

Three jaws dropped.

"You jerk!" Yuffie tried her best to shove him off of the stool, but he easily fended off her advances, laughing the entire time. "You know I don't own lacy underwear! Pervert! Sicko! You don't have other women's underwear lying around your house aside from mine!"

With a sidelong, evaluating glance at Reeve, Yuffie added, "…do you?"

"Of course not. Only yours, Yuff. Only yours."

Tifa wondered whose eyes would fall out first – hers, or Cloud's.

"Better be only mine," she grumbled, before realizing what she had said. Waving her hands desperately as if to dispel her last comment, Yuffie almost fell out of her chair. "Not like that! I just meant, I don't want to be going around your house finding disgusting discarded underwear from other women you were doing who-knows-what with! That's nasty!"

Silence.

"Sooo," Yuffie tried, "how about dinner?"

The girl sighed with relief as conversation resumed revolving around food, gladt o find she was no longer the center of attention. Talk about awkward….

Her knee accidentally bumped into Vincent's, and she turned to face him. "Sorry," she apologized.

Vincent gazed down at her. "It's fine," he replied, surprising Yuffie. Tilting her head to the side, she regarded him and his sudden slight change in demeanor. Smiling up at him, her dark eyes sparkled.

Interrupting their moment, Tifa plunked down plates in front of them, and Cloud took a seat next to Vincent as the four set down to eat dinner. When Yuffie reached out to tug her plate forward, she jumped as she felt Vincent's fingers brush against hers.

Looking up at him, she was surprised to see his sight once again fixed on her. Yuffie smiled briefly before turning to devour her food with an enthusiasm that would make most people sick from simply watching it.

"Yuffie," Reeve began between bites of food, "come to ShinRa headquarters with me tomorrow."

Not waiting until her mouth was empty to talk, Yuffie continued to shovel mouth into her food as she asked, "Fure, Whaf for?"

"We owe Elena a favor," was Reeve's once again vague response.

Yuffie actually paused between mouthfuls, frowning thoughtfully. Passing it off, she shrugged, figuring that Reeve would explain later – and he was right… Elena had brought her dry clothes. And undies!

"When tomorrow?" she asked before turning back to her plate.

Reeve shrugged. "I figured you could just come home with me tonight. We can go together in the morning." Grinning, he caught Vincent's gaze once again over Yuffie's shoulder before continuing. "Besides, that way you can get your underwear back."


	14. Chapter 14

AN: I probably won't update again until very late tomorrow night. My computer keeps crashing, and I won't be able to get my laptop up until then. That just probably means you'll get spammed a handful of chapters all at once, though!

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After their dinner had been cleared, Yuffie bounded upstairs to collect a few of her belongings to take with her to Reeve's house.

Reeve watched as Vincent followed her upstairs, deciding that he would let the man be alone with Yuffie. It wasn't as if he could prevent the inevitable from happening. Curiously, Reeve found himself under the scrutiny of Tifa's full attention.

"Why'd you do it?" the busty brunette asked, taking a seat next to him where Yuffie had been sitting.

"Do what?"

"Kiss her."

Reeve flipped open his wallet to pull out some money to give Tifa for the dinner, ignoring her protests. "Why do you think I did it?"

He went to hand her a few bills, and when Tifa stared down at his hands with her eyebrows furrowed, he looked down at the money. _Damnit, Elena, _he thought with a sigh, _why don't you just blow it up and put it on the walls?_

A miniature version of the picture Elena had framed and put on his desk had apparently been stuck into his wallet.

Ignoring the money, Tifa plucked the picture out his hands, bringing it forward to get a better look at it. Reeve saw her eyebrows raise a bit, as if she was surprised by what she saw. She took a long time to examine it before looking back up at him.

"I think," Tifa replied in a quiet voice, "that this explains a lot."

Reeve said nothing.

"Why don't you tell her you love her?"

Christ, was it that obvious?

"She's too wrapped up in Valentine to want another man to care for her," he replied, trying to brush it off and hoping that Tifa wouldn't delve too far into the subject. Unfortunately, the woman wasn't easily swayed.

"You could be right in that," Tifa suggested. "She's been pining after him for a long time. It might not be right to try to barge your way into that. It's obvious that she cares for him deeply."

Taking the picture from her, Reeve stuffed it back into his wallet, which in turn he shoved back into his pants. "Which is why kissing her might have been a mistake."

For a while, Tifa was quiet, but Reeve could almost hear the gears in her brain ticking. "Was it? I saw the way you two looked at each other. She cares a great deal for you too."

Shaking her head, Tifa stood up. "This is too complicated. I don't want to meddle in it any more than I already have. I don't want to hurt Yuffie; she doesn't deserve that any more than she deserves being ignored as long as Vincent has ignored her."

------------------------

Yuffie whisked her way into the room she slept in whenever she visited Tifa, picking up the bag that her extra clothes were in.

She whirled around and abruptly smacked into a hard surface.

One strong hand and a cold, metallic claw caught her upper arms before she could fall backwards, steadying her against a much warmer chest. Yuffie blinked as everything stilled once again, and then lifted her head to meet Vincent's eyes.

"Sorry," she found herself saying again, as she waited for him to let go of her.

He didn't.

"Vincent?" Yuffie questioned, her voice tinged with worry. Was he angry? She couldn't tell. He didn't seem angry….

"What's going on?" he asked in his low toned, even voice.

Yuffie tilted her head under his calculating eyes. "I'm getting my clothes?" The tone of her voice let him know that she didn't know what he was inquiring.

"With Tuesti."

"Reeve?" Yuffie repeated. "Nothing's going on. I owe Elena a favor."

"Is that why he kissed you?"

Yuffie tried to take advantage of the situation and leaned forward, putting her head against his chest. Closing her eyes, she smiled. "That was a misunderstanding."

Vincent wasn't so sure. He may not be emotional like the others, but he wasn't oblivious to the chemistry that had flown between the two of them while they had been eating dinner earlier.

"I honestly don't know why he did that," Yuffie waved it off, reaching forward and grasping the edge of Vincent's cloak in one hand. She couldn't believe that he was allowing her to get so close to him; he hadn't yet relinquished his hold on her other arm. "Besides, it doesn't matter."

"And if I said it did?"

Yuffie froze, unsure of the reality of what she had just heard. Stepping backwards, she looked up into Vincent's eyes, waiting for him to say more.

He didn't.

Instead he gently detached her hand from his cape before striding to the door. He paused for a moment in the wide doorway, turning his head so his chin was level with his shoulder.

"Think about it."

Yuffie could only stare. Think about what? Think about if Reeve meant something by kissing her? Or think about what Vincent had said?

Letting out a frustrated screech-half-growl, Yuffie tugged at her hair and jumped around in a few very confused circles. Since when had life gotten so darn complicated?

Once she made it back downstairs, Vincent was nowhere in sight. Reeve was leaning against the wall by the door waiting for her. She noticed that his smile looked partially strained, and as he moved forward so he was no longer slouched against the wall, he motioned his head towards the door.

"Let's go."

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Simple Simplicity: Hehe, well, my chapters are so short that it makes it a lot easier to write a lot of them! If that makes any sense. Glad to see you're still reading along:)

Cherry Blossoms River: I love character distress. Ah, drama. I thrive on it. P Now, to get on to some more mush and fluff and sappy stuff.


	15. Chapter 15

Only when they were situated comfortably in Reeve's living room before the fireplace did the scheming start.

"So," Yuffie rubbed her hands together, warming them in the radiating heat in front of her, "what are we helping Elena with?"

"You remember Tseng?" Reeve asked, watching Yuffie lazily from his perch next to her. He had a few couch pillows thrown around the fireplace, and Yuffie was sprawled out on her stomach upon one of them, her hands reaching out to be closer to the fire.

"Hmm….Mr. Tall, dark, long-haired and frowny?"

Reeve grinned. "That's him."

"I really don't get it. With all of the time the guy must spend around you, how is he so serious? All I've ever seen him do is glower and frown. And growl orders. And frown some more. Did I mention that he never seems to smile?"

"Elena's had a thing for him for years."

"She WHAT?" Yuffie screeched, her voice reaching dangerous levels of decibles. "Elena? Her with Mr. Frowny and grumpy face? That's about as crazy as me with…" She trailed off, suddenly finding herself not wanting to end that sentence with 'Vincent' while Reeve was staring at her.

"I figure he just needs a good slap in her direction. A wake-up call, of sorts. And not," Reeve suggested, eyes narrowing at Yuffie, "quite the kind you tried on Vincent."

Yuffie choked. "Of course not," she managed to get out.

"So, this is what I had in mind…"

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The next morning, Yuffie strode into Shinra headquarters at Reeve Tuesti's side. Several male eyes turned on her, recognizing her as the girl who had been strutting around in the Scarlet-approved dress.

Sniggering, Yuffie waved to them playfully, taking it all in stride until Reeve frowned and grabbed her hand before she could acknowledge any other young bucks who might get it in their heads to go after her.

Just to make his point, Reeve gave each guy a slow, even look.

They were all suddenly too happy to return to their work.

Yuffie let Reeve tow her along by the hand he still held, grinning giddily at the conspiracy she was about to take part in.

They reached his office, and Reeve turned to face her. "Ready?" he asked, a lopsided grin on his face.

"Am I ever."

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With a sweet smile on Yuffie's face, she skipped along, approaching the coffee maker where Elena was pouring herself a mug full. She had made sure to wear the jean shorts Elena had picked out for her, as long as another turtleneck.

"Morning Elena!" Yuffie chirped, doing her best to invade the woman's personal space bubble as was in her nature.

"Miss Kisaragi," Elena greeted with a smile. "I'm glad to see the clothes fit."

Yuffie crinkled her nose. "Don't call me that, it makes me feel old. Just Yuffie's fine." The lithe ninja watched as Elena emptied several spoonfuls of sugar into her coffee, stirring it rapidly. "Reeve wanted to see you in his office. Said he needed help with somethin' or other. Wanted to know if you could come right now, if possible."

"Of course," Elena agreed easily. "I'll be right there."

"Super!" Yuffie trotted off in the direction of Reeve's office. The man had one of the blinds open, and as she passed, she gave him a subtle thumbs up. He nodded in response, and Yuffie crawled underneath a near-by desk to the designated vantage point they had decided on earlier.

Surely enough, Elena strode into view a few moments later, knocking briefly on Reeve's door and waiting for a response before entering.

Yuffie grinned; everything was going as planned. She watched through the slightly open window as Reeve got to his feet to talk to her. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she aimed the camera at them, waiting for Reeve to get closer.

As the plan had required, Reeve said something that made Elena laugh; on cue, he reached out and touched her elbow casually. Yuffie snapped the picture, and Reeve instantly pulled back so that it would simply be taken casually.

Following the directions she had been given by Reeve, Yuffie strode impishly down corridors until she reached an open doorway. This had to be the right office; four desks were situated around the large room, papers strewn about.

Two desks were markedly tidy in comparison to the other two; in one, Tseng sat, typing at his computer.

Yuffie entered, immediately putting a frown onto her face. It was all in the acting!

"Jeeze," she muttered, making sure to be plenty loud enough for Tseng to hear her, "it seems like every time I stop by lately, Elena is with Reeve. They seem to be spending a hell of a lot of time together. It really makes a girl wonder."

Tseng's fingers froze over the keys.

His stern gaze found hers. Yuffie tried to look perplexed. "In fact, when I walked by a few minutes ago, I caught the strangest thing." Flipping open her phone, she opened up the picture and held it out to Tseng.

He eyed her strangely, and Yuffie shrugged. "Hey, if you don't wanna see, your loss. I mean, they just looked so… into each other."

It worked; grudgingly, he took the phone from her. Yuffie knew what the image on it looked like. Elena's eyes were sparkling with mirth; her and Reeve were leaned towards each other slightly, and his hand cupped her elbow lightly, which caused her fingers to splay across his forearm.

Tseng snapped the phone shut and handed it back to her.

"I think if you don't want him to get to her first, you might want to make that clear real quick. Or he's gonna sweep her off her feet."

The man simply glowered at her as if she had lost her mind.

"I mean, it's not like everybody doesn't know Elena's always had the hots for you. But she deserves to be happy, and from the looks of things," Yuffie eyed her phone suggestively, "I bet she's beginning to think there might be someone more qualified to take on that task."

Still, he said nothing, and for a paniced moment Yuffie wondered if their plan would go awry. How could she get a reaction from him?

"Well, I guess you don't care. Personally, I think they look great together. If you don't want her, I'm gonna go tell her I think it'd be great for them to hook up. Reeve's a pretty passionate man from what I gather; I'm sure he could make her happy in more ways than one!"

Tossing a wave over her shoulder, Yuffie started towards the door. _Please let it work!_ she prayed frantically.

She didn't get more than three steps.

"Wait."

Yup. All it took was the mention of Elena sleeping with Reeve. Nyuk nyuk nyuk… Yuffie knew she was a freakin genius.

"What," Tseng growled out, "would you suggest I do?"

Yuffie whirled back around, her face glowing brightly. "Well," she started, "I take it you're not too good with words, bucko."

The glare on his face was all too gratifying. "And you're male, so that means you've got all those horny hormones. So I suggest you go for showing her instead of telling her, because I doubt you could get out three words."

Tseng was beginning to ponder shooting the girl.

Yuffie beckoned him over with one hand. "Come here, I'll show you what to do."

Tseng raised an eyebrow. "Ick. I'm not gonna volunteer myself to kiss you or anything, I'm just gonna show you how to do other things the right way. Oh, just get your ass over here before I change my mind and you're left to figure it out on your own, because we both know you never will!"

Sighing, Tseng stood and made his way over to her.

Yuffie pushed a small button on her hip that they had stuck into her shorts; Reeve would get the signal from it, and know it was time to send Elena over. Yuffie just hoped that this didn't backfire on them.

"Obviously, you've gotta kiss her. There's really no better way to let her know how you feel without telling her." Yuffie frowned suddenly, as Reeve's image fluttered through her mind. He couldn't possibly…

Shaking her head, she stepped closer to Tseng. Grabbing one of his hands, she placed it on her hip. "Okay, first you hafta take one hand and wrap it around her waist so it's on the small of her back. Well, go ahead. You won't learn by staring at me like I'm an idiot and you want to shoot me."

Silently, but letting Yuffie know how much he didn't enjoy the situation with his glare, Tseng did as she suggested.

"Alright… you'll want to use that to pull her closer to you. But I'll let that one slide. Now, take your other hand, and put it on the nape of my neck. You'll want to thread your fingers in her hair a bit… just trust me. Girls melt over that kind of thing."

Yuffie fell silent, waiting as Tseng slowly tangled one hand in her hair with a frown on his face, and she could tell he was wondering if he was doing it right.

Before she could say anything else, the sound of a cup breaking resounded from the doorway. They turned to see a very shocked, white-faced Elena with coffee splattered over her shoes and socks from the mug she had dropped.

Elena took off running just as Tseng jumped back a few feet.

"Oh no!" Yuffie exclaimed dramatically. "Oh, crap. She definitely thought she saw something she didn't. What the hell are you waiting for, exactly?" she yelled, shoving at Tseng's shoulders. "Well? Go after her already!"

It didn't take much prompting. Tseng bolted out the door before Yuffie could take another breath.

Sighing, Yuffie jogged down the hallway a safe distance after them.

Reeve met her halfway. "I saw them run by my office," he told her. "She was headed down the stairs. If we take the emergency elevator, I bet we can beat them to the ground before he catches up with her."

"If this doesn't work out the way it should, it is soooo your fault this time. I taught him how to kiss her; if he doesn't, I aint the one to blame!"

Reeve grinned at her as they ran towards the elevator. "And who taught you how to kiss?" he asked suggestively, and Yuffie was instantly reminded of the previous day.

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Strych9: haha I'd prefer to think of it as Reeve making his point rather than taunting Vincent... oh no now I feel so mean P hahaha. Sorry about the delayed updating... my stupid computer could not stop crashing! 

Gining: Aw crap, thanks for reminding me. I forgot to put in the resolution part with that one "random guy". I'll fix that. Hey, I like the idea of Yuffie havin both of them for a while. It's gonna take a while for me to get to one pairing exclusively - I plan to drag this on for just long enough. D 

Nami7623: An angry Reeve isn't quite as fun to write. But I do enjoy drama, so hey. P 

Snipergal7: Hey, as long as you're still following along and reading it all some time, I'm enthused! And as for your other comment - I had actually pondered having two different endings to it, because I've seen people do that before... and I've also seen people write stories and end up with the couple i HATED, and they DIDN'T write multiple endings and I wanted to murder! So because you took the time to suggest that there are people who would like that, I'll be more than happy to write a Yuffentine ending as well. But I will be writing the Reevie one first... either way, there's a lot more that I plan on having happen before I end it. P 

MakotoJinx: Hehe, I'm glad to hear it's getting better. I sincerely hope it doesn't get worse! Thanks for always reviewing, you're awesome! I'll keep updating as quickly as I can. :) 

Blueravenchick: Well, I'm thankful you can keep up with my spamming of chapters! P 

Jingyee: Oooooh, a review for each chappie! Awesome. Lets me know your individual thoughts and what I did bad or good. Thanks for taking out the chunk of your time to review! I'm happy you like it! And yes, it is my belief that women are born cunning. They only have to put it to use. P 


	16. Chapter 16

Yuffie and Reeve managed to make it to the ground floor and to a window just in time to see Tseng catch up to a very distressed Elena and grab her arm, stopping her from going any further.

Elena squirmed in his grasp, twisting madly, wanting nothing more than to get away from him. "Let me go!"

"It wasn't what it looked like," Tseng bit out between his teeth, suddenly marveling at Elena's strength. She was giving him quite a struggle, and though she would never be able to overpower him, it was impressive nonetheless.

"I don't blame Yuffie, you bastard! It's no wonder that after years, you don't give me a seconds notice, but she trots in and you're suddenly…suddenly…LET GO OF ME! Reeve's already a lost cause for her. It figures that you would be too!"

Elena had started pounding on his chest with her free hand, adding some kicking into the fray to try to get him to release her.

Tseng narrowed his eyes. "And what," he asked sternly, "does Tuesti have to do with this?"

"What does it matter? Obviously you're learning just as much as I could learn from him from Yuffie!"

"What she was teaching me," Tseng gritted out between clenched teeth, "was how to kiss YOU."

With that said, he abruptly switched his grip from her arm to her waist, yanking her towards him more expertly than Yuffie could ever have imagined. Just as she had told him to, her twined his fingers in Elena's hair before bringing his mouth down onto hers.

Yuffie raised an eyebrow when Reeve took a picture with his own phone of the two Turks. "Did you just take a picture of him kissing the living daylights out of her?" she asked incredulously.

"Sure did."

"….never took you for the voyeuristic type, Reevie."

"Call it payback." Not knowing about the pictures Elena had been weaving into his daily life, Yuffie frowned curiously at him.

Leaning down, Reeve planted a kiss on the tip of her nose. Yuffie quirked her mouth and looked up at him strangely.

"What was that for?"

Reeve shrugged, reaching out to ruffle her hair. Yuffie made a face.

"Dude, is that Tseng snogging Elena out there???" came an incredulous male voice. They turned to see an open-mouthed young man staring in disbelief at the couple outside.

His companion had wide eyes as well. A small crowd was starting to form.

Yuffie sniggered.

---

And that was precisely how they found themselves in Rufus Shinra's office a scant hour later, sitting across from the slightly displeased looking man wear a meticulously pressed white business suit.

"After seeing a crying Elena fleeing via the stairway like hounds were at her heels, followed closely by Tseng, the two of you were seen scrambling your way down to the ground floor," Rufus recited, tapping a stack of papers against his desk to arrange them neatly.

Yuffie swore she was trying her hardest not to grin, but she really couldn't help herself. The entire situation was way too funny.

"Would one of you perhaps like to explain how you managed to know about this before anyone else?"

Reeve shot Yuffie a wry look as she let one snicker slip through her lips. Rufus raised an eyebrow, and Reeve couldn't help but grin.

"I can't imagine what you mean," Reeve supplied easily enough.

Rufus raised both eyebrows.

"Oh, let up," Yuffie commented, finally releasing all of her giggles. "You're just jealous because you're not getting any snogging done!"

Reeve choked.

Rufus smiled.

"Two weeks from now, we're holding a formal party for funding advancement for the WRO," Rufus stated, and Reeve narrowed his eyebrows, wondering at the sudden change in topics. "I'd like for you to accompany me to it. Having a former member of Avalanche attend it with us would attract far more donors."

Reeve suddenly found himself wondering if he could grab Rufus' gun before the man noticed. Clearly amused with Reeve's distress, Rufus smiled.

"No? Then accompany Reeve."

So that was his damn plan all along.

Yuffie regarded Rufus for a moment before turning to Reeve. "Will it really help you out?" she asked him. Letting Rufus see his momentary displeasure, Reeve waited before turning a smile on Yuffie.

"It's a smart idea. I think it would work."

"Then sure. I'll go. Do I have to wear a dress? I promise I won't ask Scarlet for help this time. I'll even find someone else to help me. But only because it's helping out WRO. I actually hate dresses. Oh, no, please tell me I don't have to wear those.. those.. stu…ste…stul…"

"Stilettos?" Rufus provided, finding the entire situation too amusing.

"Yeah, those. Anyways, I'm outta here – I'm gonna go stop by 7th Heaven and see Tifa and Cloud. Let me know how the after-the-snogging goes!"

When the door closed behind Yuffie, Reeve glowered at Rufus.

"And that," Rufus commented, "is what you get for meddling with my employees personal lives."

"What, I get punished by having to take a beautiful woman to a social event on my arm?" Reeve replied dryly, grinning widely.

"Yes, you're welcome. But I did rather enjoy the expression on your face when you thought that I actually intended to take the slip of a girl to it with me. I do believe," Rufus straightened a second stack of papers, "that is what they call blackmail material."

"Oh, she's much more than slip of a girl."

"So I've heard. How did she get it in her head to let Scarlet pick out something for her to wear?"

"I blame myself for that one."

"I'm not sure whether to pity or envy you."

"You know, I'm not entirely sure either."

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Jingyee: My fav kinda kiss! The grab-and-thoroughly-kiss kiss. Things will get more complicated too. Yay. D 

Simple Simplicity: Haha I can just imagine Reeve doing that - the teasing. He's so hunky. 

Cherry Blossoms River: You've got some fluff coming up. I promise. D In fact, here it is.

Midnight 1987: Yay! I'm glad you're enjoying it! I hope you like the rest!

This Infernal Halo: I love writing interaction between them. It's so much fun! The playfulness has got to be my favorite kind of chemistry ever.  



	17. Chapter 17

There is always some madness in love. But there is always some reason in madness.

PPT will end as a Reefie. You've been warned.

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That night when Yuffie clambered up into bed, she frowned to see that Vincent's was empty; Tifa had told her that he would be staying the night again. Shrugging it off, Yuffie kicked her shoes off and climbed into his bed, figuring she'd just wait for him there.

Surprisingly, it wasn't too long before the door opened again. Yuffie was half asleep when Vincent paused before the bed for a moment and then laid down behind her. Drowsy as she was, Yuffie was still happily shocked when Vincent reached out of his own accord and pulled her against him.

More comfortable than she could ever remembering being, the Wutain girl grinned at the warmth that Vincent gave out. She would call him her fumigating gas tank of heatness. In comparison, she was basically an ice cube.

It took a while, but after lying pressed together for long enough, their body temperatures mingled, and Yuffie found herself just as warm as he was.

Once again, they both slept better than they had ever remembered doing before.

When sunlight filtered through the shades the next morning, Yuffie groggily opened her eyes. It took a minute to register that Vincent had his face pressed into the back of her neck, his even breathing as he snoozed away tickling her hair. Grinning, Yuffie mentally did a victory dance.

And then she focused her vision before her.

Yuffie came face-to-face with a small, beady pair of black eyes, and let out a blood curdling scream that Tifa downstairs would later swear shook the floors.

Cait Sith jumped backward a good six feet, scrambling against the wall. Vincent was up before either of them could blink, a familiar long gun in his hand. Once he assessed the situation, his gaze – which Yuffie could swear contained a slight frown – found her.

"What!!! If you woke up to a freakin pair of black eyes two inches from your face, you would've screamed too!" Yuffie protested. "Okay, maybe you wouldn't have screamed, but you woulda been freaked out too! Come on, that was just creepy!"

Yuffie glared at Cait. "What are you doing here anyways? You scared the hell out of me!! Jeeze, don't ya know how to knock any more!"

An unnaturally quiet Cait Sith held out a small, folded piece of paper to Yuffie. "Elena wants to see you for lunch."

Scrambling out of bed, Yuffie took the paper and read it. Then she looked at the clock on the wall. "Omigod! We slept in until noon? How the hell did that happen! Omgawd! If I don't hurry, I'm not gonna make it in time to meet her for lunch!!!"

Forgetting her shoes, Yuffie scrambled out through the door in a flailing mess of limbs.

They counted to twenty-six before thumping could be heard as Yuffie tumbled back up the stairs, ran hurriedly into the room, grabbed her shoes, turned and tumbled back down the stairs.

Yuffie was genuinely hoping that Elena wasn't going to hate her for pulling that stunt with Tseng yesterday.

So when she arrived at Shinra headquarters and stepped out of the elevator, finding Elena across the room from her, she swallowed almost nervously. The blond, petite woman found her almost instantly, and began striding towards her.

"You conniving, scheming, little" Elena started, enunciating each word as she took more steps forward, and Yuffie winced, "cunning, devious, horrid brat," Yuffie found Elena a foot away from her, and then widened her eyes in shock as the woman threw her arms around her and pulled her into an embrace, "THANK you."

That certainly didn't end how Yuffie had expected. She had been wondering how Rufus was going to explain to everyone that Elena had shot her into fifty million little pieces. But instead, she was being squeezed thankfully by the woman.

"Haha. Well, it was Reeve's idea, so you should go give him a hug too," Yuffie felt a sudden stab of jealousy at her own suggestion. "…but if you want to hug me instead, that's fine too! I sure am glad you don't hate my guts and don't want to shoot me apart for doing what you thought I was doing with Mr.Grumpy face."

Elena laughed, finally relinquishing her hold on Yuffie. "I didn't blame you. I know nobody can make Tseng do something he doesn't want to; if he had decided to mack on you, that woulda been all his decision."

Yuffie wondered if she should warn Elena about the picture that Reeve had of them, in case he decided to use it for blackmail or embarrassment purposes.

Nah, she thought, it'd be funnier if Elena was unsuspecting.

"Speaking of Reeve, I'm gonna go say hi to him while I'm here. That okay with ya? I'll be quick. Like, super quick, like, you won't even know I was gone quick!"

"Sure. I have a great place in mind for lunch," Elena replied easily enough. "Take your time."

Yuffie skipped her way to Reeve's office, deciding to knock before she entered. That way, he'd never expect her. Grinning, she waited for his response before pulling the door open and entering quietly.

To her surprise, he didn't look up from his computer. She found he was pounding on the keys a tad bit more forcefully than usual, and his face seemed to be set into frustrated lines.

"What do you want?" he sniped angrily, and Yuffie suddenly found herself worried about his demeanor.

When he didn't get a response, he whirled around in his chair and glared at… "Yuffie?"

"Are you okay? Has Rufus been getting your gall again or somethin? You want me to go beat 'im up? Obviously I can take out a guy who wears white all the time. Or is it Tseng? Well, I'd beat him up, but Elena might be kinda mad at me. What's eatin ya?"

_What's bothering me, _Reeve thought ruefully to himself_ is finding you snuggled up in Vincent's arms in bed this morning. Whatever else would make me feel like strangling anyone within the near vicinity?_

His usual perky grin appeared on his face, and Reeve did his best to soften his attitude. Getting angry at Yuffie wouldn't achieve anything.

But the exuberant girl didn't seem convinced. Coming around his desk, she plunked down on the arm of his chair. With one hand, she reached out and brushed his bangs up and off the sides of his forehead, the gesture entirely too maternal and calm for Yuffie.

"What's this?" Reeve smirked. "Wanna play doctor?"

Making a face, Yuffie relocated her hands so she could give him a rough shove to try to knock him off of the chair.

Instead, it had the adverse affect, almost pushing her off of the chair's arm. Only Reeve's hand snaking out to catch the back of her waist kept her from tumbling to the floor.

"You freakin' jerk! I knew it – there's nothing wrong with you! You're still as perverted and chipper as ever! EEEK!" Yuffie yelped as Reeve's hand suddenly slid down from her waist to lightly pinch her butt.

"THAT'S IT! THIS IS WAR!" Launching herself off of the arm rest, Yuffie landed smack dab on Reeve's lap and mercilessly began poking his sides. As he began to fight back, the chair tipped over and they found themselves being launched over the back rest and into a big heap on the floor.

High-pitched yelps from Yuffie, loud bouts of deep laughter from Reeve, and many crashes brought Reno and Elena to his office door.

Peeking their heads in, they saw a tipped over chair and peered behind the desk to find Yuffie and Reeve sprawled out over each other on the floor, curious faces pausing whatever they had been doing to peer upwards in as they realized they had guests.

Yuffie realized with a voiced "Ooops," that the situation probably looked a little stranger than it was.

"Are we interruptin somethin'?" Reno drawled, meeting Reeve smirk for smirk.

"Yes. Now go away and we'll continue right where we left off," Reeve replied, and Yuffie elbowed him roughly in the gut.

Disentangling herself from him, Yuffie hopped up to her feet. Reno raised an eyebrow and whistled at her dishelved state; Yuffie looked down, realizing that her turtleneck was gaping down towards one bared shoulder, already figuring her hair was sticking up in odd places, and glared.

"Like you'd look any better if you'd been wrestling," she stated, sticking her tongue out at Reno.

A chuckle came from behind her. "Wrestling?" Reeve repeated. "Is that what it's called now-a-days?"

Yuffie began to look for something to throw at him.


	18. Chapter 18

--------------

Later that evening, Elena poked her head into Reeve's office. "Sir?" she questioned softly, trying to sound a bit worried. "May I ask a favor?"

He paused in his typing. "Whatever you need, Elena."

"May I use your phone? I'm afraid I left mine at home, and I'd like to give Yuffie a call."

"Of course."

Elena tried not to let the mischievous grin she felt on her face show.

Stepping out of his office for privacy, Elena went into an empty room. Searching his contacts list for Yuffie, she opened up a blank text message and began to type away. Once it was sent, she deleted it from the sent box.

Revenge was sweet.

----------------

Yuffie jumped when her phone vibrated from inside her shorts pocket, almost dropping the platter of food she was about to set down on the table.

When she had finished the order, Yuffie flicked open her phone. "Who called?" Tifa asked, leaning over her shoulder. Yuffie had been helping around in 7th Heaven, lending Tifa a hand with the customers.

"It's from Reeve. Says he wants to meet me later tonight. I never really took Reevie for the texting type! Why, I didn't even think he knew how to use a phone that well," Yuffie snickered to herself.

--------

When Elena returned Reeve's phone, thanking him profusely, she put a ponderous expression on her face and made a show of appearing thoughtful.

"Oh, and Sir, Yuffie told me to ask you if you were busy tonight," she lied easily.

Reeve raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't she just ask me herself?"

Elena waved it off. "She didn't think about it until we were at lunch. Said she was helping Lockhart with the bar, and that she could probably use a walk and some fresh air by the time she was done."

Reeve listened to her explain where Yuffie had wanted to meet him, never suspecting that Elena would be capable of lying. That, the blond grinned as she exited his office successful, was exactly why Tseng had suggested that she go instead of him.

---------------

Reeve tugged on the jacket of his business suit as he walked into the pavilion that Yuffie had wanted to meet him at. Dress clothes were uncomfortable as hell, but he hadn't had enough time to go home and change into something less restricting.

He was only waiting for about five minutes when Yuffie came trotting into the square, and it took her a while to find him in the dark.

"Sorry I'm kinda late," she breathed out, a little winded from the long jog. "The bar was really busy tonight. I felt kinda bad leavin Tifa on her own to the hoards of customers. I hope she's still alive when I get back."

Yuffie looked at him warily for a minute. "Speaking of customers… I still owe that guy you yanked away the other day, yanno. I promised him I'd go to a social event with him if he… well… you know."

Reeve's grin was almost disconcerting. "I took care of that. He'll be more than happy to find someone else to go with him. In fact, I think he found another diner to frequent instead of 7th Heaven."

Gaping up at him, Yuffie read the true meaning in what Reeve said. Why would Reeve go through such lengths to make sure that the guy never came around Yuffie again? Frowning up at him, she wondered if what her instincts were telling her could possibly be right.

That was when she realized that he still had his gaze fixed on her, but instead of a joking grin, his expression had turned into something slightly more serious.

Yuffie shifted under his constant gaze. "What?" she mumbled. "Why are ya starin at me?"

Reeve smiled – different from his usual smirk. This was something softer that was meant only for Yuffie. "Nothing," he replied. "Just thinking that you're awfully beautiful."

Yuffie blushed. "I…what? Uhh... Come on, don't joke around like that! It ain't nice!"

Reeve raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't joking. Surely Valentine has told you that before." Yuffie's silence said enough. "You're beautiful, Yuffie. Not many girls could wear their hair as short as you and still have the feminine beauty that you do."

Speechless. How come Yuffie was finding herself speechless in front of Reeve so much lately? Yuffie was never speechless. Yuffie was the loudest person in their group, the one who was always blathering about something or other. In fact, sometimes nobody knew what she was blabbing about – sometimes Yuffie didn't even know what Yuffie was blabbing about. She just blabbed. That was Yuffie.

But staring up at Reeve, who reached out with one hand to brush away a stray lock of hair from Yuffie's eyes, she felt a pit growing in her throat. Why was she feeling this way?

"Come on," Reeve said, dropping his hand from Yuffie's face. "Let's go for a walk."

He took off at a slow pace, and Yuffie stared after him for a moment before jogging to catch up with him. She followed at his elbow, staying markedly close to him. It made Reeve smile; he wondered if the girl noticed that she followed so closely to the people she was affectionate towards.

It was a gesture she saved for three people; Vincent, Tifa, and Reeve himself.

"I never really figured you were the walkin type," Yuffie mused out loud, wondering why Reeve had asked her to go on a walk with him. "Err… not that I think you're the jogging type. I just didn't imagine you'd like to go on walks. But it sure is pretty out here at night! All the lights look awesome. Kinda like really shiny material. Oooooo."

Reeve quirked an eyebrow at her, wondering what she meant. "If you want to go on a walk, I'll go with you anytime." Yuffie shrugged at his response.

They passed a bar, and when a clearly drunken man outside leered at Yuffie, she stuck her chin up in the air and yanked on Reeve's arm until she could take a hold of his elbow. Reeve chuckled, wondering if Yuffie realized what she had done.

"When Elena met me today, I thought she was gonna strangle me for sure. She started tickin off names at me – like devious, and conniving, which, yanno, I kinda figured she'd end with 'Bitch!' and then shoot me. But instead, she gave me a big old hug." Yuffie snickered.

Nonchalantly, Reeve began to slide his arm along Yuffie's until he casually snagged her small hand in his. She didn't seem to really notice as she kept rambling off to him.

"-and I kinda figured that would suck. I mean, I'm the great ninja Yuffie – I'm supposed to die going down in flames and glory, not being shot by a jealous Turk because she caught her man with his hands on me."

Absent mindedly, Yuffie playfully swung their connected hands, and Reeve decided she must not have realized she was holding his hand yet.

"But you were wrong, of course," Reeve added. "Don't you remember the heroine always has mad, hot sex before going off to die? It's the rules."

Yuffie sniggered, but then turned serious for a minute. "Does that mean Aeris got to have mad hot sex with Cloud before she bit the dust?" Reeve knew that just because Yuffie could talk about Aeris so nonchalantly, it didn't mean that she didn't respect Aeris. Yuffie and Tifa had loved the flower girl.

"I don't think so," Reeve amended, "but I guess that just means you'll have to have twice the amount to make up for it. For Aeris, of course." He thought for a second. "…but not with Cloud."

Yuffie grinned up at him as they walked along. "Does that mean you're volunteering yourself for the job, then?" she joked along.

Reeve tried to not think too seriously about what she was saying.

"Who else? You've said yourself that you can't help but admire my chest. Maybe I should stop hiding it from you under all of these clothes," Reeve joked, wriggling his eyebrows at her suggestively and quoting what she had previously said.

Yuffie laughed, and Reeve couldn't help but admire once again how her face lit up when she was happy. The smile brought a childish glow back to her matured features that, he lamented, could stop a man's heart.

The conversation brought another matter to mind that Reeve had been meaning to say something about for a while. Slowing gradually, Reeve came to a stop, and Yuffie gave him a questioning look.

"Yuffie," he started, wondering how to say what he meant. "Do you really want to be with a man who only gives you attention when you put on a revealing dress?"

Yuffie decided instantly that she didn't like the direction this conversation was going in.

"Would it really be worth it to be with someone like that? Don't you think you deserve someone who would lavish you with attention no matter what you were wearing?"

Frowning, Yuffie felt sparks of anger rising.

"This is about Vincent, isn't it," she said slowly, feeling her nerves bristle. "I know you don't have anything against him. You two worked together a lot during the crisis we had with the Deepgrounds. So what're you goin on about, exactly?"

He tugged her a bit closer with their joined hands. "What I'm saying, is that if Vincent really cared about you, you wouldn't have to run around nearly naked to get him to look at you twice. It doesn't take all that to see you're beautiful."

Yuffie yanked her hand out of his grip. "What do you know about it?" she protested a little too harshly. "How would you feel if you were in love with a girl, and watched some jerkface get her instead of you, when he didn't give a shit about treatin her good and you cared more than anything?"

_Exactly the same as I felt when I found you sleeping in Vincent's arms this morning._

"-and then she freakin let him shoot Vinnie, and shoved him in some giant test tube to 'revive' him and turned him into his next freak experiment! Would you be too eager to fall head over heels for another girl after that??"

_I don't see how he can't be eager to if the girl is you._

"Yuffie." Reeve wondered how he could get her to understand him.

"What?" she nearly screeched in frustration.

Leaning down, Reeve gently kissed her again. Deepening the kiss, he put a hand on the back of her neck and pulled her forward for easier access.

She was almost frowning when he pulled back.

"Why'd you do that?" she asked, knowing for sure that this time couldn't be some kind of lesson.

"You're a smart girl. I think you could come up with the reason yourself."

Now was entirely the wrong time to spiel out some pathetic excuse for a love declaration, so Reeve would give her that to think over.

"It's late. We should be getting home," Reeve supplied, waiting to see if Yuffie would come with him. He had missed her last night; his house had seemed empty without orange peels desecrating the floors and a small ninja curled up snoring on his couch.

"Yeah. Tifa will be worryin if I don't get home soon. I'll see you later, Reevs," Yuffie answered, giving him a strained smile before waving and turning to walk away.

Reeve watched as she walked away from him and went home to 7th Heaven. To Tifa, and Cloud. And to Vincent.

-----

Gining: I love Rufus too, he is awesome. And hunky, in Advent Children. In fact... let's see if I can sucker you in here... my next fan fiction is going to be a Rufus and Tifa fic. I mean, I love her and Cloud, but Rufus is sexy. P So I don't know if I will be putting more of Rufus in this story... but there will be a whole new story in the next few days with him as a main. :) Hopefully you don't hate Rufus/Tifa.

Cherry Blossoms River: Speaking of Lucrecia...I can't wait until I play Dirge of Cerberus to get the whole story with Lucrecia Vincent and Hojo straightened out. Sometimes I'm afraid I've got the concepts a little wrong and put some stuff that isn't quite right into my writing. But oh well!

Green Pheonix: Hi! I'm glad to hear you like it! I'll be the first to admit I'm a huge yuffie/vincent sucker. I LOVE them (see my fav story list - there's tons of them on there.) But something about Reeve makes me really think that there would just be so much chemistry between him and Yuffs. Hehehe, glad I could corrupt you into turning to the "other side" haha. Hope you enjoy it!


	19. Chapter 19

AN:

If you didn't see it posted earlier in a chapter, this is going to end as a Reefie.

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Yuffie hadn't made it a block away from where she left Reeve before she turned a corner and smacked into someone's chest. With a surprised screech, she backed up. But when she looked up to apologize, it was Vincent's face she found.

_De ja vu, _she thought grimly.

Sighing, she leaned and stepped forward so she was against his chest again; as Vincent had once attempted to do to a hologram of Lucrecia, he held both arms out and embraced her lightly.

"What are you doing here, Vinnie? If you say you were following me and Reeve, I'm gonna kick your tushie. Real hard."

"…Tifa." It was all Vincent said; when he had asked where Yuffie was earlier, Tifa had eyed him strangely before reluctantly replying that she had gone on a walk with Reeve. When the hour had grown late, Tifa had begun to frown, and Vincent had decided to see what was keeping her.

"No matter how old I get, I think she's always gonna treat me like she's one of her kids," Yuffie mused with a smile. "That's Teef for ya, always worryin about me bein' out late and stuff. She makes a great mom."

She looked up to see Vincent staring intently at her, and when he leaned down slightly, Yuffie found a rush of adrenaline run through her. For the second time that night, she found herself being kissed.

But Vincent's was different. It was a simple kiss… he pressed his lips against hers gently, almost uncertainly. Yuffie had only slid her eyes closed when he released her.

"It's late. Let's go," he said evenly before turning and striding in the general direction of 7th Heaven.

A jumble of very confused emotions that were beginning to give her a head ache – and, somewhat of a heartache, she realized heavily – Yuffie trailed slowly after him, her brain consumed with wondering exactly what was going on.

Contrary to what Reeve thought, Yuffie went home that night and asked Marlene if she could sleep in her room with her and Denzel. Remembering how Yuffie had graciously shared her icecream, Marlene was more than happy to agree.

Besides, that meant cuddles! Marlene decided happily. Tifa was usually up too late working to cuddle with her any more.

Denzel, being the older child, pouted sullenly for a few minutes when he realized Yuffie would be another person crowded into their bedroom. When they went to bed – way earlier than Yuffie would normally go to sleep, but she was tired, so it didn't really matter – the Wutain ninja almost melted as Marlene curled up against her chest.

One day, Yuffie decided, in eight years or so, she would have to have babies. Lots of cute babies to cuddle with. Marlene slept with one hand curled in Yuffie's turtleneck.

Tifa peeked into the bedroom in the morning to find Denzel's bed abandoned. Feeling her heart melt, she stepped quietly into the room and stared at the picture before her.

Yuffie was laying on her side, drooling in her sleep, one arm slung over Marlene's small frame as the girl curled her knees up into Yuffie's stomach, her head nestled on Yuffie's chest. Denzel was snuggled up against Yuffie's back, snoring lightly. They had managed to kick the blankets down in their sleep – still a bunch of fitfully sleeping children, Tifa thought laughingly.

Cloud joined her in the doorway, and she lifted a finger to her lips to tell him to be quiet. Smiling one of the rare smiles they got to see from him – like the one when he had been in the church as Geostigma had been healed – he handed her a camera.

As Tifa took the picture of the three kids curled up in the bed together, she decided that she'd have to keep it until Denzel was old enough to bring home girlfriends. Then, she could embarrass him by showing his girlfriend the pictures!

---------------------

Elena had expected Reeve to come to work with the biggest grin yet on his face the following day, after her and Tseng had collaborated the idea to set them up for a walk. So when Reeve didn't come into work at all, she was worried.

When Reeve didn't answer the phone, Elena couldn't help it. She excused herself from the office, and made Reno drive her to Reeve's house.

Wondering if the man ever locked his door, she entered his house after her knocking was ignored. She found Reeve sitting in front of the fireplace staring at an orange that he held in one of his hands.

Realizing that she was very bluntly being ignored, Elena took a seat on the opposite side of the fireplace, gently folding her skirt under her as she sat down.

"The office was really quiet without you this morning. People kept looking around like they were wondering if someone had died," Elena joked lightly, waiting to see if she would get a response from Reeve.

"She went home with Vincent last night," Reeve said instead. "Tried telling her that it wasn't worth it to pine after someone who only paid attention to her when she ran around in a skimpy dress. She got mad."

Elena frowned. "Yuffie never gets mad. I mean, not really mad."

Reeve lifted his eyes to stare at her seriously. "That's my point."

"You don't know that she went home _with_ Vincent. Maybe she just wanted to be alone to think for a while. You probably gave her a lot to think about," Elena suggested, hoping that Reeve realized that it was a very likely possibility.

Reeve laughed. "I called Tifa to check in on Yuffie and make sure she got home all right." He shrugged, realizing that it sounded ridiculous because they all know Yuffie was one crazy little ninja who could very well take care of herself. "I was talking to her right as Yuffie came in the door with Vincent."

Elena was silent.

"When I sent Cait Sith over the other day to tell her you wanted to meet her for lunch, she was still in bed at noon. I thought it was kinda strange, until I sent Cait in only to find Yuffie tangled up with Vincent on the bed."

Elena's eyebrows shot up.

Reeve snorted. "Not like that."

Elena frowned thoughtfully. "So she was sleeping in his bed with him. Can you say she hasn't fallen asleep in your arms before?" she asked, referring to the picture on Reeve's desk.

The blond stood up, brushing the wrinkles out of her skirt. "You need to realize that Vincent doesn't have anything of hers that you don't. Give her some time to come around. Holing yourself up in your house isn't going to achieve the results you want.

"So, how was it?"

"…Sir?"

"As Yuffie would put it, "snogging" Tseng."

Elena's face lit up with a pretty blush.

-------------------

When Yuffie finally woke up, it was to find two children with handfuls of her turtleneck casing her in a cocoon of kid limbs. Smiling softly, Yuffie realized why Tifa must enjoy fostering the two kids so much.

It took a while to detach Marlene's small fingers from her shirt, but Yuffie eventually made it downstairs, the smell of breakfast wafting to her nose.

At the bottom of the stairs, she looked up to see Elena sitting at the bar waiting for her. "Good morning," the blond greeted, a warm smile on her lips.

Yuffie dragged herself over to the stools and took one next to Elena. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" she questioned.

"I have some time. I just wanted to show you something." Reaching into her black suit jacket's pocket, Elena pulled out a photo. Yuffie frowned thoughtfully as the woman handed it to her, and she took it, bringing it up to look at it better.

She was quite shocked to see what Elena had managed to capture.

When Yuffie had fallen asleep in Reeve's lap that night at his house when she had come trodding over through the rain, she hadn't thought much of it. Yuffie was, by nature, a physically affectionate person, much like Marlene was.

But looking at the picture was like looking at two completely different people. Yuffie had never known that she had tangled her hand into the shirt Reeve had been wearing, a sign of affection and trust and wanting to be closer to a person. And even she could see the peaceful expression on her own face as she slept with her head cradled in Reeve's elbow.

Examining the picture, Yuffie realized that it looked so… right.

Elena took one last drink of coffee, put a few bills on the table for Tifa, and stood up. "That's all. I just wanted to give it to you."

Yuffie was still staring at the picture when 7th Heavens door closed behind the female Turk.


	20. Chapter 20

_AN: Sorry I took so long to update! I'm in a house with 5 cats, 3 dogs, and 3 siblings right now, so i've got my hands a bit full. I'll reply to your reviews in the next chapter - I'll post at least one more tonight! _

_------------------------------------------ _

Tifa found the younger girl fifteen minutes later, still sitting in the same chair, staring at something on the table. Upon leaning over Yuffie's shoulders, Tifa pursed her lips. So someone had brought her the picture.

Watching Yuffie, Tifa was amazed to see thoughts flying through her eyes. Momentarily, Tifa wondered if Yuffie even knew she was there, until the girl asked "Where's Vincent?"

Straightening, Tifa wiped her hands on her apron. "He left real early this morning with Shelke."

Yuffie hopped to her feet. "Well, I'm bored. I've been cooped up in here way too long! I think I'm gonna go steal some materia. Or harass some towns people. Or eat some oranges! I'm outta here, Teefs."

-----------------------------------------------

It was about five in the evening when Rufus entered Reeve's office to pick up some papers he needed from the man. Eyeing the half-open blinds on Reeve's windows that overlooked the lobby, Rufus raised an eyebrow.

"Are you going to go see her at all?" the blond man questioned, nodding his head in the direction of the lobby.

Reeve glanced out the window, finding nobody other than employees.

"See who?"

Rufus eyed him levelly. "Kisaragi. She's been sitting out there for two hours, perched on an empty desk with her chin in her hand, staring either into space or at you."

Rufus watched as an utterly surprised expression played across Reeve Tuesti's face. The older man stood up from his desk, strode over to the door, and opened it. Frowning, he confirmed what he had seen from his window; Yuffie was no longer there.

When Reeve frowned at him, Rufus shrugged.

---------------------------

Reeve got a phone call that night from Tifa. Apparently, the woman had arranged a get-together with all of the former members of Avalanche for the following evening. Barret, Cid, Shera and Nanaki would be there. And Valentine, of course.

This, Reeve decided as he kicked his feet back up onto his couch, could be very interesting.

--------------------------------------------

Nobody saw Yuffie for that entire day after that. The young ninja spent time here and there – anywhere that was without people she knew. She had quite a time following around one man in a weapon's store. Every time he would add something to his cart and then turn to look at another item, she would sneak up, take out whatever he had just added, and put it back on the shelf.

When the man turned around to find it gone, he would glance around, shake his head, and mutter to himself before retrieving the misplaced weapon.

Sniggering to herself, Yuffie decided to leave him alone after the sixth item. Life as a sneaky Wutain ninja was good. When it came to annoying people, at least. She tried not to think about the other things that were keeping her from being around the people she was close to, but they kept clouding her mind.

If she wasn't careful, she was going to turn into an angst-mogster like Cloud.

Continuing to find things to occupy herself with, Yuffie didn't make her way to 7th Heaven until nearly midnight. When she finally was there, she jumped up to the roof instead of going inside.

Why not? The stars were out, the air was fresh, and she needed the empty space to do the thinking she had neglected throughout the day.

Digging into her pocket, she pulled out the picture Elena had given her. Who would ever have expected that things would get so complicated so darn fast? One minute, Yuffie had been Yuffie, traipsing along at Vincent's side. The next, she was being smooched by two of the hunkiest men she knew! How the hell did that work?

Yuffie had only been sitting on the roof for about twenty minutes when the sound of clothing ruffling in the wind alerted her to someone else's presence.

From her peripheral vision, pointed gold boots came into sight.

"You've been avoiding me." Vincent's voice was low and emotionless as ever. Straight and to the point. Yuffie grimaced.

"Don't be ridiculous, Vinnie. I wasn't avoiding ya," Yuffie answered. "I was avoiding everyone!" A gust of wind snagged the photo out of her hands. It landed at Vincent's feet.

Eyeing her, he bent down to pick it up. With one glance at it, he handed it back to her. Saying nothing, Vincent sat down next to her, resting his arms on his upraised knees.

"Hey Vincent, can I ask you a question?" Yuffie asked as she tucked the photo back into her pocket, careful not to crinkle it. When Vincent held her gaze for a moment before nodding, she figured she would just get it out. "Do you think you'll ever love someone again like you loved Lucrecia?"

Holding eye contact with Vincent after she asked that question was incredibly difficult. Though his face never changed, Yuffie imagined she could see thousands of thoughts running through his eyes.

It was a long time before she got a reply.

"I don't know."

Yuffie wriggled her toes inside of her shoes. "Do you want to?"

This time, she was certain that Vincent was looking at her meaningfully. "If it was the right person."

Scooting around on the roof, Yuffie placed herself so she was back-to-back with Vincent. She leaned against him, glad that their difference in height allowed her to rest her head between his shoulders.

"Sure is pretty, isn't it?" Yuffie mumbled, staring up at the clear sky and all of the stars that were visible to them.

Vincent turned his head to the side so he could gaze in her direction. "Yeah," he replied, referring to something different.


	21. Chapter 21

AN: I replied to reviews at the bottom of the page. :)

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Marlene was kicking her dangling feet back and forth as she sat impatiently in her chair. Tifa had closed 7th Heaven for the day. Two rectangular tables had been pushed together to accommodate all of the former members of Avalanche. Tifa and Cloud sat together at what they had deemed the "head" of the table.

On the left side of the table, starting from Tifa's side, sat Denzel, then Marlene, Barret, Shera, and finally Cid. On the opposite side, from Cloud's elbow was an empty seat Yuffie had left for a certain someone, then Yuffie herself, Vincent next to her, Shekle at his side, and Nanaki.

Yuffie was surprised that Reeve was late; he never failed to be in punctual order. But not long after she had started to worry, the door opened, and the grinning man entered, apologizing for his lateness.

It didn't go without notice that from the moment Reeve entered until he sat down, that the man's eyes never left Yuffie.

She grinned, elbowing him in greeting as he took his seat. "Jeeze, takin your time were you? Keeping us all waiting here starving to death!"

Shera's watchful eyes didn't miss anything.

Conversation piped up around them, but Yuffie was distracted as she felt Reeve's hand brush against her knee for a brief moment, leaving something on top of her legs. Making an almost silent, "eh?" sound of curiosity, she peeked under the tablecloth.

A shocked expression covered Yuffie's face as she peered down at the single rose Reeve had placed on her lap.

The ninja wasn't sure how to react. Nobody had ever given her a flower before… She really hoped she wasn't blushing. When she looked at Reeve again, he winked at her, and she smiled.

Reeve grinned and switched his gaze to Vincent, who was giving him a slow, meaningful look. Instead of acknowledging that, the man turned his attention to the other guests. "You're looking good, Shera."

"Quit lookin, Tuesti. She's taken." Shera blushed and slapped Cid's arm as he made the rough comment, as if the whole table couldn't see Shera's bulging pregnant belly.

Reeve simply laughed. "Don't worry yourself, Cid. My eyes are occupied already," he commented, giving Yuffie a meaningful glance that she failed to see. However, every adult eye at the dinner table caught it.

Cloud's eyes slowly moved from Yuffie, to Reeve, to Tifa. "Am I missing something?" he muttered quietly enough for only the busty brunette to hear.

Tifa tried to appear nonchalant as she began to dish up food onto Denzel and Marlene's plate; Denzel grimaced, stating that he was perfectly capable of serving himself. Shaking her head, the barmaid marveled at how fast children grew up.

"So, how long until the baby's due? You're huge!" Yuffie exclaimed, bouncing in her seat as if she was trying very hard to resist jumping across the table to closely examine Shera's belly. "Has it kicked yet? Can I feel it? What are you gonna name it?"

Laughing gently at the onslaught of questions, Shera helped herself to a heavy helping of almost every food on the table.

"I still have a month and a half until the baby's due. It's been kicking a lot lately; I'm beginning to think this baby must be as active as you are, Yuffie. If it starts up, I'll let you know."

Nudging Vincent, Yuffie stared up at him with googly eyes. "We're gonna have a babbbbyyyyyy!!!!" she commented excitedly.

When Vincent's mouth quirked slightly and Reeve raised one eyebrow, Yuffie thought over what she'd said. Barret jumped to his feet, slamming one hand down onto the table.

"Say what?" he roared, about to lunge over the table and strangle Vincent.

"Gack! Not me and Vinnie, num nuts – I meant Shera! I was excited that one of you lumbering idiots finally decided to pop out a baby! Jeeze," she grumbled under her breath. "Calm down."

Clearing his throat, Barret calmly sat back down. "Good," he stated, "'cuz if Valentine had knocked you up, he'd better make an honest woman out of you."

Yuffie choked on the mouthful of corn she had just attempted to swallow. Reeve reached out with one hand to rub her back soothingly as she hacked and coughed, and Shera, Cid, Tifa, Cloud and Nanaki looked on as Vincent and Reeve eyed each other over Yuffie's head.

"Naturally, I would," Vincent agreed to Barret's statement. Cid dropped his fork at the highly unexpected response. Reeve and Vincent stared at one another, and Tifa began to bite her nails, waiting for the sparks to start flying.

"What's 'knocked up' mean, Daddy?" Marlene piped in, curious big brown eyes staring up at him. Shera put one hand over her face, and Yuffie would have burst out into giggles if she hadn't been the one Barret had been referring to.

"It means," Denzel began to supply suddenly, "when-" Cloud cleared his throat, and Denzel looked to see Tifa staring at him with one very menacing eyebrow raised. That look on her face made him very wisely grow silent. Nobody wanted an angry Tifa.

"What?" Marlene whined. "Is nobody going to tell me? But Denzel gets to know!"

"Well," Tifa tried slowly. "It's something grown-ups do before they get married." Shera put both hands over her face, and Cid snorted. Yuffie couldn't help it, at this point; she started snickering.

"So," Reeve interceded before the conversation could become any worse for Marlene, "Yuffie and I are attending a large social event in a little over a week that's meant to bring donors to WRO to collect funding for the restoration."

"Rufus figured that having a former Avalanche member would help attract more donors," Yuffie added. "Seemed like a smart idea. I figure, we stopped the world from getting completely torn up – might as well lend a hand in helping piece it back together more! And what would help better than to see an Avalanche member with a Shinra employee?"

"Pretty good excuse to have a beautiful woman on my arm, if you ask me," Reeve commented, grinning.

Yuffie smiled deviously. "Well, if you really want me to charm their socks off, first, tell me – are most of these potential donors you're appealin to men? Cuz I could always, yanno, put back on that dress Scarlet picked out for me."

"No," two voices said in unison.

Cid, Shera, Nanaki, Cloud, and Tifa gaped at Vincent and Reeve, both of whom had answered Yuffie very firmly and at the same exact time.

The two men exchanged yet another glance. Shera wondered why the atmosphere suddenly felt as if she could cut the tension with a knife. Observing the two grown men eyeing each other with a masked challenging glower, she pondered the situation.

Was she over analyzing things? Judging from Cid, Nanaki, and Cloud's faces, she didn't think so. This was certainly a new development.

"I never got to see your dress," Marlene lamented, swinging her feet underneath the table again. "Do I get to see it?"

"Yeah," Reeve smirked, "why don't you show Marlene and Shera your pretty dress?" The suggestion was humorous to Reeve as long as he didn't imagine Yuffie parading it around in front of a bunch of rich, snobbish men. In front of the former members of Avalance, it would be a riot.

He could imagine the incredulous look on Barret, Cloud and Cid's faces.

Yuffie kicked him under the table.

"The brat can't possibly own a dress," Cid remarked, and even Shera and Nanaki appeared surprised.

"Did you say Scarlet?" Nanaki repeated, wondering if he had been hearing things and not being the only one who was having trouble keeping up with the conversation at hand.

"What can I say," Reeve replied. "Scarlet and dresses were step two. First, I had her flinging her clothes and underwear around the rooms in my house. She has a tendancy to forget to put them back on afterwards, and ends up wearing my clothes instead."

This time, it was Shera who dropped her fork.

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Jingyee: Your plan sounds like a good one, as long as you share him with me at least one night a week. I wouldn't want to feel bad for leaving him out either, after all! Hehe.

Not Jack Frost: Glad I could amuse you with Yuffie's underwear. Someone had to put it to use. P

Nami7623: Hey, if I can be blamed for getting people to like the Reeve/Yuffie pairing, it's a good day for me indeed. P And I will write the alternate ending so there's no frustrated people. Though like I said, I'm writing the Reevie first cuz that was my original intent. )

This Infernal Halo: I hate drama in real life. But in writing, it's just so much fun.

Vampyric Ninja: Thank you! What is love without humor...P and I'm glad you didn't mind the Tseng/Elena. I love just throwing minor characters in there too.

midnight1987: I'm glad it's addicting you and not annoying you to death. I'll stop dragging both of them along soon, I promise.


	22. Chapter 22

AN: Okay... don't shoot me. Both things had to happen for this story to progress.

And... this would be reason 2 for Scarlet to be magically alive in this story. But hey, if Rufus can do it, so can she.

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The hour had grown incredibly late when the table finally had cleared out and everyone had started returning to their individual homes. Tifa, Marlene and Denzel were busy clearing the dishes off of the table and washing them dutifully when Reeve and Yuffie slipped outside.

Feeling elation at the fact that Yuffie still had the rose he'd given her clutched in one hand, Reeve leaned against the outer wall of 7th Heaven, facing her.

"You gonna come back home with me?" he asked her, and when Yuffie fidgeted, he sighed. "Don't avoid me because I kissed you, Yuffie. Before anything, you're my closest friend. I have a big box of lonely oranges that have been waiting for you to come around, and a sorely neglected fireplace."

He was relieved to see a smile grow on her face. "I should help Tifa with cleaning up," Yuffie told him.

"So come over when you're done. I'll leave the door unlocked. I promise I'll let you have your underwear back. I even put them through the washing machine for you."

Yuffie turned red in the face. "You handled my undies! Ahhhhh!"

"What, did you want me to leave them on the shower door?" Pausing, Reeve made a thoughtful face. "Works for me. Just imagine what Reno or Rude would think if they ever asked to use the bathroom when they were stopping by."

Watching her snort as laughter lit up her face, Reeve felt a sense of contentment spread through his chest. "I'll wait up for you," he told her confidently.

Bending over, he pressed a kiss to her nose again. She scrunched it as if she thought it was strange, but truly, the small gesture made her heart race for some unknown reason. When Reeve did things like that, Yuffie felt… genuinely cared for. Sheltered.

As a ninja from a young age who could defend herself without question, Yuffie had never been sheltered. She didn't need to be. But in Reeve's presence, she discovered that it was a decidedly nice feeling.

So she watched as Reeve walked away, holding the rose that he had given her in her hands, wondering how a girl's emotions could ever get so muddled.

When the door opened and Vincent paused next to her several minutes later, Yuffie felt a lump growing in her throat. Yuffie Kisaragi was a girl who did her best to justify her actions. When she had stolen her comrade's materia, it had been for a damn good reason, because her beloved hometown was dying without it, and that had helped relieve her conscience.

So how on earth could she justify that she was falling for two different men at the same time?

She knew that Vincent had seen Reeve give her the rose. Very little passed by the observant man without notice, and anyone smart enough to realize that his silence was selective and to the point knew that.

"Shouldn't ya be with Shelke?" Yuffie questioned, trying to say something to break the awkward silence. "Where is she?"

Vincent shrugged his shoulders, his face as devoid of expression as ever, crimson eyes beautifully solemn. "I'm not looking for Shelke."

"…what're ya looking for, then?" Yuffie had a feeling she knew why he was outside, but she thought she would ask anyways.

"…you."

Leaning against the wall as Reeve had done, Yuffie chose to fix her gaze on the clear night sky. "Me? Why were ya lookin for me?"

Her eyes swung back to Vincent when he moved so that he was standing in front of her. "Do I need a reason?"

"…..uhhhhh……." Yup. Points for intelligence with that response. That was Yuffie for you, number one most awesome ninja in all of Wutai. Never caught unaware or unsuspecting. Always on top of the situation.

Yuffie's dark eyes widened as Vincent took a step forward and proceeded to lift one arm out, his red cloak billowing out as he placed the palm of his hand solidly against the wall next to her shoulder. The side of his hand barely brushed the turtleneck she wore.

Stupidly, Yuffie stared at his hand, feeling her heart race at how close he was coming to her of his own accord. This was getting past personal bubble invasion. Giddy, she looked back up at Vincent, whose gaze had never left her face. She tried to ignore the guilt that bit at her when she thought about Reeve.

"Uhhh…..I guess you don't need a reason," she started blabbing nervously. "I mean, uhm, well, I guess, since, sorta, well, you know, I don't-"

Her words were cut off as Vincent closed the distance between them, tugging down the neck of his cloak with his free hand before catching her mouth with his lips, silencing whatever it was she had been attempting to say.

Without missing a beat, he moved his hand to the back of her neck, pulling her forward slightly. This was different from the chaste kiss he had given her earlier. Yuffie, while she still had the momentary ability to think, wondered when Vincent had moved close enough to be pressed up against her.

And then Yuffie didn't do very much thinking at all.

Her mind was much happier being enveloped by Vincent's ministrations. Had she been able to think, she would've been grateful for the wall behind her that supported her wobbly legs as his mouth moved over hers, coaxing it open without any resistance.

When he pulled away slightly some time later, their breathing ragged, he nuzzled the underside of her chin. "Vincent…" Yuffie mumbled softly, regaining her breath.

In response, Vincent moved his attention back to her mouth, breathing out a whispered name before claiming her lips once again. "Lucrecia…"

It took a minute for Yuffie's fogged mind to register what he had just said. Once she did, her eyes snapped open, and her entire body went rigid. Vincent paused when he felt her body tense up, and pulled back once more.

Yuffie stared, mouth ajar, wondering if Vincent even knew what he had just said. The first laugh bubbled its way up from her throat before she could stop it. And then laughter took over her small frame as she retrieved both of her arms – which, she realized, she had wrapped around Vincent's back – to clutch her stomach.

She laughed bitterly, not noticing when tears started rolling down her face. "Oh," she choked out between bouts of laughter, "that's just rich."

Vincent looked on silently, having taken a step back to give her room, not saying a thing as Yuffie continued to laugh like she had gone insane.

As her laughter began to subside, she gazed up at Vincent, tears leaving glimmering streaks down her cheeks.

"Yuffie…"

"No." She laughed, again, wondering why she just couldn't seem to stop. "Don't say it. What is there to say?"

Regaining her feet, she brushed by Vincent hurriedly; he grabbed her arm as she passed, but she gently tugged it away. He watched her go, her lithe figure disappearing into the night, knowing very well where she was headed.

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Reeve was sitting on his couch, staring at the fire and deep in thought when he heard the front door open and close. Smiling, he was glad with the decision he had made to leave it unlocked for Yuffie.

But it wasn't Yuffie who stepped into his living room.

Reeve frowned as he took in the sight of Scarlet in her red, slinky, revealing dress, who had stopped to put one hand on her hip as she stared in at him.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned in a polite of a tone as he could manage. The surly blond grinned. _More like, how the hell do you even know where I live?_ He thought to himself wryly.

"If you don't want someone to come in, Reeve, you shouldn't leave your door unlocked like that," she replied, inviting herself in and making her way over to the couch. Not wanting her to take a seat next to him, Reeve got to his feet.

"You know it wasn't left open for you. Now, unless you have a good reason for being here, you need to leave."

Reeve grimaced as Scarlet moved close enough to him for it to be entirely too inappropriate. "We have a lot in common, you and I," she commented slowly, in a sultry voice.

"Really. I'll make sure to ask you all about it the next time I see you at work. Goodnight, Scarlet."

Not daunted in the slightest, Scarlet reached forward with one hand and gently picked up the bottom of Reeve's tie in one hand. "Both of us want someone who has never looked at us twice. I've never been able to get Rufus to be anything other than business-like to me. And you," she continued, "everyone sees how you pine after that ninja girl."

"I assure you, my pining after her is quite successful. The women's underwear folded on top of my drier speaks for itself. Goodnight, Scarlet."

She smiled coyly, raising one eyebrow. "Is that so? Then why is that as soon as you left her tonight, she waited for Valentine to come out and kiss that pretty mouth of hers senseless?" Reeve stiffened. "Anyone can see that she's smitten with him. Which is what makes you the same as me. Someone who will never be acknowledged by the one they most want to be with."

For some reason, Scarlet's words hit home. Deeply. Reeve knew from years of observation – whether it be from Cait Sith's eyes or his own – that Yuffie had been keen on Vincent for a very long time.

He remembered how Yuffie had been so reluctant to come to his house for the night any more, so avoiding until he had mentioned that over all, he valued her friendship.

His thoughts must have shown on his face, because Scarlet's grin suddenly turned victorious.

"That's why I have a proposal. Both of us are the same, vying for the attentions of someone who doesn't give us a second glance. Why not take comfort in each other in this situation?"

Reeve knew that Scarlet's definition of "comfort" was far from the usual one, and was very aware of the blatant suggestion behind it.

"I wouldn't do that to Yuffie."

"You're a very attractive man, Reeve. If she was going to fall into your arms, she would have done so by now. So why not spend your effort in someone else's arms?"

Before he could protest again, Scarlet had tugged on his tie and reached up with her other hand, dragging his head down so she could slant her mouth possessively over his. Shocked at the depth of hurt that Scarlet's accusation of Yuffie never returning his affection brought to him, it took Reeve a moment to collect himself before pulling away from her.

He had been opening his mouth to reprimand Scarlet harshly and demand that she leave immediately when he saw her head swivel towards the living room's entryway, having heard it before he had.

Looking up, Reeve saw Yuffie standing in the doorway, rose clenched in one hand, eyes wide, and dripping water because it had started to rain while she was making her way to his house.

The rose that she had never let go of the entire time she had ran desperately towards Reeve's house dropped from her limp hand. Reeve saw utter betrayal flash across her features, and then Yuffie's feet moved before the rose had the time to hit the ground, disappearing from his sight.

Biting off a curse, he flew past Scarlet, bolting out the door into the pouring rain, trying in vain to catch up with Yuffie. She dashed out of sight before he could get anywhere near close enough to her, and although Reeve darted after her, he knew in his gut…

…that Yuffie was a ninja. And when she didn't want someone to find her, she wouldn't be found.

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Forty minutes later, Yuffie allowed herself to collapse against a rock formation, breathing heavily through her second bout of tears that night. She had lost Reeve in the first minute of running, but yet, something didn't allow her to stop for long afterwards.

Pulling out her phone, she blinked in an attempt to clear her vision of tears, scrolling through her contacts list until she dialed a number.

It rang twice before the other line was picked up.

"Why in hell are ya callin so late, brat," a familiar voice greeted gruffly.

"Cid," Yuffie let out in more of a pathetic sob than a word.

There was a stretched-out pause before a worried sounding Cid slowly said, "Yuffie? …what's wrong?"

Not being able to hold in her hiccupping sobs and sniffles, Yuffie managed to say, "Can you come pick me up?"

She heard Cid say something to Shera in the background. A _bleep _resounded from Yuffie's phone, and she pulled it away from her ear to hit the "accept" button. They all had GPS systems set up on their phones so that if they needed to, they could potentially trace each other's locations. Yuffie normally had her phone set with her location blocked, but she accepted the request from Cid gratefully.

"Don't move. I'll be right there."


	23. Chapter 23

AN: I replied to all of you awesome reviewers at the bottom of the page. annnd... has been tweaking out and not letting me upload/edit documents, so i apologize if the next one is delayed again too. I should have another chappie up later tonight.

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Cid traced her location with little to no problem, and when at last he was on the ground with a blanket in his arms that Shera had forced on him, he found Yuffie huddled in a hiccupping, sniffling, sobbing ball against a rock formation.

When the Wutain ninja heard him, she raised red and puffy eyes. There was only a moments hesitation before the petite girl launched herself from her seat and wailed in a decibels-only-Yuffie-can-reach way, flinging her arms around Cid's neck and sobbing into the side of it.

Cid clumsily attempted to wrap the edges of the blanket that weren't wedged between them around her chilled body, awkwardly patting her on the back and wondering exactly who he was going to have to kill.

Thankful that Yuffie – whose feet hung off the ground with her latch on his neck – was so light, Cid hauled her back to the Sierra, wondering what could possibly have upset her so horribly.

He couldn't help but be relieved when he reached his sleeping quarters where his very pregnant wife was sitting on the bed, eyebrows furrowed with concern. He leaned down so Yuffie could crawl into what little lap Shera had left, instantly flinging her arms around the older woman.

So Cid paced around the room, scratching the back of his head and mumbling muffled obscenities underneath his breath as he listened to Yuffie spurt out what had set her into tears, her words barely understandable to him between the gasps for breath and sobbing.

He wondered to himself if she would pass out from lack of oxygen any time soon from the way she was going, and just how women had the lung capacity to keep the effort of that level of hysteria up.

Shera nodded as Yuffie rattled off, and Cid figured it must be some weird feminine gene that enabled his wife to understand the shit for excuse of sentences that were coming out of Yuffie's mouth. How could anyone understand someone talking that fast while simultaneously sniffling sobbing hiccupping and inhaling?

But he did catch a few words, enough here and there to make him stop pacing and yell loudly enough to shatter the windows, "Vincent did WHAT?"

Shera lifted her head to give him a quick glare before ignoring him bluntly and returning to Yuffie. What he (mostly…somewhat…well, barely..) heard next made him suddenly more inclined to attempt to pay closer attention.

"What the hell's Reeve got to do with this shit?"

This time, two aggressive pairs of female eyes turned on him. Suddenly, the tears stopped, and the ranting started – though sniffles the occasional backlashing hiccup still occurred – as Yuffie answered his question in more sentences-per-minute than should be humanly possible.

Having decided his brain might implode before he could strain himself hard enough to understand enough of what Yuffie was saying to draw up the entire story, Cid headed out of the room for smoke.

When he came back in, it was to find his wife on her side with Yuffie curled up against her, snoozing like an infant.

"Jeeze, she finally fell asleep? I was wonderin when the hell she was gonna up and pass out," Cid commented wryly. "Good thing she doesn't weigh much, with all the damn haulin her ass around I'm doing," he voiced as he moved forward to pick up Yuffie and move her to another room with a spare bed.

But when he was a few feet away, he paused. "Awh, what the hell. I'll sleep in the other room." Waving it off, he grumbled as he strode out of the room once again, leaving Shera smiling at his thoughtfulness.

Cid could gripe and call Yuffie a brat as much as he wanted, but they all knew how much he really cared for the girl.

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When Yuffie awoke the next morning, she was clinging to a very large, very round belly like a little girl. Her interactions with Shera had been limited and few over the last couple of years, but staring up at her now, Yuffie began to feel somewhat of a mother-daughterly kinship to the woman. It was something she had never had back home.

"How are you feeling?" Shera asked gently, wiping the bangs out of Yuffie's forehead.

Instantly realizing that her head was throbbing, Yuffie groaned. "Like I drank way too much and proceeded to party and dance till odd hours of the morning to excruciatingly loud, ear-blasting music?" she supplied, putting her hands to the sides of her head.

"After crying like you did last night, that's not surprising. It takes a lot of energy out of a person."

Yuffie grumbled something under her breath that Shera didn't catch. Smiling softly, the woman attempted to sit up. Yuffie leaned over and helped her, awed at how much the pregnant woman weighed, and then plunked down beside her.

Before Shera could begin saying any of the things she had gathered together to ease Yuffie's mind, the door swung open.

Cid entered, and Yuffie stretched her arms over her head with a big yawn. "About time, old man! What, were you gonna sleep all day or something? I guess you must get lazy in old age. Ah, must be tough. Well, I've gotta say, it's good to be young!"

The cigarette in the corner of his mouth rose up and down with his expression. "The guys from 7th Heaven gave me a call," he started. "Seems they're havin one hell of a fit over you dashin off all upset; it's got them tied up into goddamn knots. They want to get us all together again today at the bar."

Yuffie fell off the bed in a surprised tangle of flailing limbs. "You didn't tell them I was here, right? They don't know, right? They think I'm somewhere else, right? They don't know I'm here, right? Right?"

"Shit, calm down, brat," Cid grumbled. "They don't fuckin know."

Letting out a relieved groan, Yuffie beamed up at him. "Thanks! I owe you, like, super big! I could almost kiss you!" Realizing what she said, Yuffie scrunched her nose, adding, on a second thought, "Eew." Turning to Shera, she patted the woman's shoulder and said, "No offense. But eew."

"Are you going?" Shera asked tentatively, knowing that Reeve and Vincent would be at 7th Heaven and fairly certain she already knew Cid's answer.

"Of course I'm going, woman."

"…..Cid? …Shera?" Yuffie mewled out pathetically.

"What?"

"….Is it alright….if….uhm… I stay with you guys for a while?" They were shocked to see Yuffie fidget uncomfortably under their stares.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you want," Shera replied when Cid was silently baffled, giving Yuffie a motherly smile. "You know you always have a place here."

"Well, shit, I guess I'd better get goin," Cid remarked, one hand rubbing the back of his head as he made a quick exit, the levels of girly bonding growing a little too high for him to handle.

Yuffie jumped to her feet. "Can we make pancakes, Shera? I want pancakes! Oooh, and maybe some waffles too. Cloud always says they're the same thing. Shows how much he knows!"

In the midst of her arm swinging, leg hopping joyous rant of breakfast foods, Yuffie froze and leaned over slightly. "Urk…" she gurbled, and Shera watched as her face slowly turned green.

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Just because he spoke with a mouth that no boy's mother would want to kiss, it didn't mean that Cid couldn't be thoughtful if he wanted to. So he took his time in arriving at 7th Heaven, until he knew for sure that he would be the last to arrive.

Cigarette perched in his mouth, the pilot swung the door open and eyed the collective group of former Avalanche members gathered at the counter.

"Hey, Cid," Tifa greeted, her voice followed by a chorus of echoed greetings from the other members.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," he replied. "Vincent, Reeve, get the hell over here. I've got somethin' for ya."

Not thinking twice about it, the two men got to their feet and separately strode over to Cid. "What is it?" Vincent questioned, and Cid noted that his voice sounded a little strained. Perhaps someone had been up late worrying about a certain ninja.

Imagine that.

"Have you heard something from Yuffie?" Reeve piped in, his voice clearly revealing his concern.

Cid figured they both looked like hell anyways.

The blond man waited until they were standing in front of him, a few feet apart from each other, their haggard faces somewhat impatient. Without warning Cid moved, slamming his fist first into Reeve's jaw, and then turning to pummel Vincent likewise with more of an uppercut motion.

Both men went flying backwards, stumbling to gain their footing.

Everyone else stared at Cid with wide, disbelieving eyes as if he had just lost his mind.

Nodding to himself with satisfaction, Cid strode past the two men and took a seat at the counter.

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If I skipped anyone... feel free to hit me over the head with something heavy. I love every review I get, and read them all! Sometimes I just forget which ones I've already replied to because I'm an airhead. 

AthenaChrome: Hahaha, I'll try to make the wrath of Cid good. He's so much fun to write. Thanks for reading !

This Infernal Halo: hahaha. Yes, Scarlet is a .

MakotoJinx: Thank you! I'm happy you're still following along! Hope you continue to stick with the story despite the angsty climax. D And I'm so glad I got you to like Reefie! Let's start a revolution. hehe

Mari: Oh my gosh. I havent had a chance to catch up to all of my reviews yet - you reviewed a ton! You know I already love ya, but you're just super awesome for that. P i'm glad we can geek out over reefie together. You know what's sad? I got the orange idea from myself. I was writing while trying to eat an orange... and I couldnt peel the damn thing and orange juice kept squiring into my eyes. It made me think of Yuffie.

Nami7623: Yay! Someone else likes the apperance of minor characters. I love 'em all.

if-you-lie: I'm glad you think so! (about scarlet being a good plot device) ... I meant for Reeve's "oops" moment to be as bad as Vincents, but I didn't write it quite right so it didnt turn out as bad. Oh well. Thanks for reviewing!

Kohryu: I agree. I think Cid is someone whos gruff on the outside, but really a softie - like how he stopped the rocket launch to save Shera's life. I like Cid. P Thanks for readin D

Green Phoneix: Ooo you spoil me, it makes me all giddy to hear it's one of your favs. D I think there's gotta be angsty and happy points to a story or it just isn't a story. Yanno? Gotta be good times and bad!

Snipergal7: Sorry to hear you don't like how the stories going. I'm used to reading authors like Teresa Medeiros and Lisa Kleypas, and they all have realllllly shitty things happen to the characters before the happy endings. One of my friends throws down the book and screams every time it happens. But I like that style, so it's what tends to come out in my writing. :) If I write a solid yuffentine, I will be sure to let ya know. Thanks for reviewing.

Arkaidia: Sorry! I've been a bit busy so I'm updating a lot slower the last few days. But I promise I will try my hardest to have at least one chapter a day!! Thank you for reviewing, I love to hear from readers!!

budibudi: Hehe, sorry - i changed it to reeve and yuffie now. I wrote in the first chapter that I'd left it as vincent/yuffie because it was both pairings...and it wouldnt let you select two pairings. But it is gonna end Reevie so I changed it ! Sorry hehe... I hope you continue to read anyways P

Leo - I heart you. P

Jingyee: Aww thank you D I can't believe I've gotten that many reviews. Makes me squealy happy!

Vampyric Ninja: It'll be revealed in a bit that the whole Vincent mouthing Lucrecia wasnt quite as mean as it looked... you'll see. I didn't mean to go Vincent bashing... I mean, the man's sexy as hell, who could hate him. But hahaha I'm glad you are considering liking Reefie! I think they're sweet! I like Yuffentine too..but... hey P  
Ravyne Rayne: I think Cid should kick some hiney. All in good time. Thanks for reviewing!!


	24. Chapter 24

AN: Replies to reviews at bottom of story like usual! 

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A week flew by before either Yuffie or Shera had much time to notice it. Yuffie had flung herself ruthlessly into a routine, accompanying them everywhere they went on the airship, aiding in every single WRO project that the crew was assigned.

Repairing old buildings and homes, helping to relocate displaced families into new houses that the WRO had begun to create. Yuffie dove into it with a vigorous energy that left Shera wondering if the girl was working so hard so that she wouldn't be forced to think about her situation with Reeve and Vincent.

Though Yuffie's days were filled with hard work and labor that should've kept her mind unoccupied. Aiding in restoration was something that Yuffie was built for; the smiling, grateful faces of the families they helped filled her with a joy that was like nothing else she knew.

But at night, when she curled up into bunk beds with the crew, she would pull out her cellphone to find missed calls and messages.

_"Yuffie. It's Reeve…. I just wanted to hear your voice. If you don't want to call me back, you don't have to. When you're ready to talk to me, I have a lot to say. I'm thinking about you."_

_"Yuffie…. " Fabric rustled in the background, and the sound of a small girl's voice before Vincent continued. "Marlene misses you. Come visit soon."_

_"Yuffie, It's Reeve. I figure that you listen to the messages, so I might as well leave some more. I know how much you love my voice, after all. I have a supply of oranges that are rotting without you. Elena and Tseng bat their eyelashes at each other all day long. It's almost sickening to watch."_

Feeling a bit restless and knowing that she wouldn't get any sleep, Yuffie bounded out to the front of the airship where she would be able to gaze out through the huge glass panes.

She was surprised to find Shera perched on one of the steps, hands on her tummy. When Yuffie took a seat next to her, the pregnant woman smiled. "The baby's kicking. Go ahead; I know I don't have to ask if you want to feel it."

All too enthusiastically, Yuffie leapt at the chance to feel the baby moving around in Shera's big tummy. Shera continued to smile maternally, silent as Yuffie squealed in delight and took excited intervals to fling her arms around before placing her hands back on Shera's stomach to wait for the baby to kick again.

Cid's wife's face turned a bit serious, unnoticed by Yuffie, until she spoke softly, "Are you ready to talk about it now?"

Yuffie froze for a moment, then grinned and scratched the back of her head. "Heh. Guess I have to sometime, don't I?"

"Alright then… I'm gonna say what I think."

Within Yuffie's over-an-hour-long hysterical rant over a week ago, the girl had provided Shera with a surprisingly large amount of information. When Shera asked who Lucrecia was, Yuffie had supplied everything she knew about the scientist woman's past with Vincent. And Shera knew well enough who Scarlet was, though the situation with Reeve had taken some elaborating on.

"I want you to keep in mind… that I could be off on everything I say. From an outsider's view, this is what I see. Nothing I say will make what they did right, but it might make a bit more sense." Shera took a deep breath.

"From what you told me about Vincent and this Lucrecia girl… He must have had a very hard time watching someone he cared about so greatly run off with another man, and make decisions that he knew would hurt her beyond belief.

It's true that one reason he may have said her name while embracing you was because he's still harboring that desperate, heart-wrenching love for her that he was never able to have reciprocated.

But another thing to consider…" Shera paused, gauging Yuffie's reaction. The ninja girl was frowning studiously, a dubious look on her face. "…is that Vincent may have been seeing the same thing happen over again with you. Someone that he had grown to care about, someone who showed him love and affection… inevitably whisked away from him again. By a different man. Just as Lucrecia was, he's watching you go from obsessing over him to considering someone else.

Judging from what you've told me, and from what I saw at dinner the other night… It's a very plausible reason, that Vincent would have Lucrecia on his mind if he was lamenting over losing a girl he cared about to another man again. How do you think it would feel for him to see that happen all over again? To see it happen once again in you?"

Yuffie swallowed, and before she had a chance to give any reply, Shera continued.

"And as for Reeve Tuesti…. I'll admit I haven't seen much of the man either. But judging from what I hear from Cid, the man is loyal to a cause beyond belief and without doubt. All of us know that Reeve has a sense of right that far surpasses most other men; didn't he show that best by joining our side when he could clearly see that Shinra's cause was doing the people and the planet wrong?"

Yuffie's head was really starting to hurt.

"Whatever happened, there's no question about the fact that Reeve let Scarlet come into his house. But I think that you should consider the fact that it could have been something entirely different from what it looked like…and that you also know better than anyone that Reeve could never betray any of the people he cares about." Shera fixed her eyes onto Yuffie's. "Especially you."

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"Sir…"

Elena's voice came from the doorway to his office, and Reeve looked up from his computer to find her staring at him with a concerned expression marring her soft, beautiful features. Beautiful features that had been marred by a bruise forming across her cheek.

"Elena? What the hell happened to you?"

He was astonished to see a blush light up her fair features, and the woman began to stutter.

That was when Reno popped in behind her, making Reeve groan at the first sight of bright red hair. "You missed one hell of a good time earlier!" he remarked, a splitting grin forming across his face. "Our Elena smacked Scarlet a good one. Tseng had to pull them apart after they started rolling around on the floor."

Reeve Tuesti was, for a moment, speechless. He watched Elena sputter, and asked slowly, "You and Scarlet came to physical blows? Whatever caused this?"

Straightening her posture while simultaneously elbowing Reno in the ribs, Elena cleared her throat. "Given the stunt she pulled in front of Kisaragi, I felt it was my right to be first in line to… to…well, to speak frankly, to slap her a good one. Sir."

Reeve ran one hand through his hair. "And how," he started, "did you hear about that?"

"Ahh!" Elena stuttered, realizing she had revealed too much. "…from Lockheart, who heard it from Cid Highwind's wife, Sir. But Lockheart wasn't supposed to tell anyone, Sir, so…."

Reno felt it was his turn to pipe in once again, and began to tell a very enthusiastic play-by-play of Elena's moment of violence.

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_Reno had been standing next to Elena in the office's lobby as the woman prepared her morning's first cup of coffee, rattling off excitedly about his latest escapades with Rude when Scarlet strode into the room, slinky red dress and all._

_The woman hadn't taken three steps when Elena's head snapped up. Without thinking, Elena slammed down her cup of coffee, causing it to spill all over the counter. Reno was aghast; the woman was abusing her beloved drink which she consumed in massive amounts that shouldn't be humanly possible. Something was definitely wrong._

_In Reno's opinion, Scarlet had never seen it coming. But neither had the red-head. Elena's confident and furious swagger was filled with conviction as she strode right up to the other blond._

_Elena's arm went swinging before Scarlet could open her mouth; Reno couldn't help but wince at the exaggeratedly loud sound that Elena's palm made when it came in contact with Scarlet's cheek._

_From then on, things happened so fast that Reno couldn't exactly recall who had started pulling hair first. Kicking, screeching, name-calling and slapping ensued until both women had been knocked to the floor and began to roll around in a vicious tangle of flailing limbs._

_Reno had been staring, his open jaw nearly hitting the floor and eyes wide when Tseng came into the room, having heard all of the commotion. _

_The black-haired Turk took in the sight before him, and Reno could've sworn he saw a slight widening of the man's eyes before he was pulling the women off of each other. The task earned him a black eye, though he wasn't sure afterwards which woman had inflicted it upon him._

_----------_

Reno snickered. "Elena kicked Scarlet's ass, of course. Ah, you should've seen how bad she looked coming out of it!"

Reeve was astonished. The man couldn't believe what Elena had done, and all because Scarlet had threatened Reeve and Yuffie's relationship. As he stared up at the blond with a renewed admiration, Elena shifted uncomfortably underneath his perusal.

"She had it coming to her!" Elena burst out, unable to control herself. "Why, how could she do something like that?"

"I think our Elena got her back in measure." Still snickering, Reno reached into a pocket and pulled out a thick chunk of long, golden-blond hair. Elena's eyes bulged out, and her face contracted in a mollified expression.

"YOU SAVED THAT?" Elena screeched incredulously.

"Shit, of course I saved it! It's a freaking trophy! Look at how much of her hair you pulled out, Lena! I'm keeping this forever, and when you and Tsengy have little babies running around, their great Uncle Reno will tell them all about-"

Elena shoved the man out the door playfully, closing it behind him. Muffled protests came from the other side of the door.

Blushing furiously, Elena turned to face Reeve once again while bracing her back against the door. Clearing her throat, she changed her expression to a serious one, trying to initiate the conversation that she had initially come here for.

"You've been staying in your office until past midnight every day, Sir. Arriving here as early as you do and then leaving that late can't possibly be good for your health."

"And what are you doing here so late, Elena?" Reeve countered.

"The President sent her home after the incident with Scarlet," Reno's muffled voice came from behind the door. Elena did her best to glare at it, thumping loudly to shut him up.

"I came to uh… grab some papers I forgot in my… hurry to get out earlier," Elena muttered. "I saw the lights on in your office. I think with the way you're going, even the President will start worrying about you."

"I'm fine, Elena. Thank you for your concern, but I have work to do."

Screeching in frustration, Elena threw her hands up into the air. "FINE! Work yourself to death! Don't listen to anybody! Just keep working yourself to death staying here night and day!"

Realizing her outburst, the blond woman blushed and slapped her hands against her mouth. "I apologize, Sir."

She was surprised when Reeve clicked a button and turned the monitor to his computer off. "You're right," he agreed, and Elena blinked.

"I am?" she repeated in a ditzy way.

"I take it Rude and Tseng are out there somewhere, too?" Reeve knew he was right when Elena grinned nervously. "Let's all go get a drink somewhere. I could use one right about now."

Victorious, Elena swung the door open and waited for Reeve to follow her out.

Midnight 1987: I love Yuffie – her emotional level is akin to that of a pregnant lady. It can swing from one end of the spectrum to another with little warning.

Kohryu: I can only say that we both must be incredibly evil to get so much amusement out of people getting pummeled. Hehe.

GreenPhoneix: Well I'm glad I'm killing you in a good way! Lol. But here, have another chappie! P Hope you enjoyed it.

MakotoJinx: Thank you!!! You're makin me blush! P

Death wish girl: Wait no longer! It's here! Hehe. Thanks for reading!

Chibified kitsunes: School sucks. I feel your pain! If you don't know what I have in mind, I can only assume that's a good thing. It means that I'm being successful in writing a predictable story!...somewhat! or something. Ah, yes, men beating up other men for a girl is sweet. Haha, we're horrible.

If-you-lie: I don't see how anyone can't love Reeve! He's so..so… yum! Admittedly, so is Vincent. Ah.

JingYee: Oh my god, your comparison of Cid to a coconut almost killed me with laughter. Hahaha, hairy? Eeew! I hope not! Eeeew. Glad to hear you think I'm keeping the characters in…character? Let me know if I start dropping that! Hopefully the cat fight made up for the angst of the last chapters.

Maliciousqueen: Ah, I wish I had made his wrath more…wrathy. But I ran out of ideas, so I went for the good old pummel-the-bastards routine.


	25. Chapter 25

THIS FIC WILL BECOME A GRADUAL REEFIE.

Not Yuffentine.

I've stated it several times. Try reading the authors notes up here for important info like that, please.

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"…and that you also know better than anyone that Reeve could never betray any of the people he cares about." Shera fixed her eyes onto Yuffie's. "Especially you."

Silence.

Yuffie lifted one hand and poked one pointed finger at Shera's belly. "That," she spoke in seriousness, "is gonna be one damn lucky baby."

When the ninja went to bed that night, she slept better than she had all week, her cellphone clutched in her tiny hands. And when Yuffie woke up, she thought about everything that Shera had said.

Flipping open her cellphone, Yuffie dialed one of the most used numbers in her phone book.

Four rings passed before the other line picked up with a rushed, "Hello?"

"Hey Teefs! How's it going?"

"Yuffie?" Tifa exclaimed. "Hold on just one minute!" Yuffie winced as she heard a racket of crashing dishes and loud banging noises before a rustling sound that indicated Tifa had picked up the phone again.

"I'm sorry about that. How are you doing? We've been worried about you, you know. It's not like you to stay out of contact with us for so long."

"Ah, I've just been busy! Been doing a lotta work for the WRO. Fun, manly work! Building stuff. And other stuff. Anyways, there's a reason I'm calling you," Yuffie ended her rambling.

Tifa tried not to feel crestfallen that Yuffie hadn't just called her to talk, and instead took satisfaction in the fact that the younger girl had decided to call her for help. "What's that?"

"Well, you see, I kinda need a favor…" Yuffie trailed off, thought momentarily, and began rattling off to Tifa at the Wutai-ninja-speed-of-light.

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This time, Elena was relieved to have to knock on Reeve's door and wait for him to answer it, because that meant that the man had locked it. Maybe Scarlet had driven in the point that doors had locks for a reason.

The man was only half dressed when he pulled open the door, and he simply grunted and moved aside so Elena could come in.

"Perfect. You're a woman – you help me out," Reeve commented, and Elena blinked in confusion as the man lead her to a room. Once she saw that it was his bedroom, and found the formal clothes strewn out all over in a mess, she grinned, realizing that Reeve couldn't decide what was best to wear.

"Formal appearances always throw you through a loop, don't they, Sir?" she commented lightly. This was perfect, she decided slyly. Eyeing the different colors and pieces, Elena gathered a few together and tucked them into Reeve's arms.

"I suggest you wear the dark green for your tie and the vest," Elena stated precisely. "They'll look good. You always wear dark blues and blacks. It's still a dark color, but green would be good for a change. You'll barely see the vest beneath your jacket anyway."

Thankful that someone had a head for formal attire, Reeve gratefully took her advice. Elena bit her lip as she tried not to grin slyly, knowing that Reeve didn't realize that she had an entirely different motive for making the man wear what she had chosen.

"And you," Reeve seemed to realize his manners, "look amazing. Tseng will be glowering all night trying to keep the men off of you."

Elena blushed, brushing the skirt of her modest but tightly fitting light blue dress that was perfect for her figure. "If he even notices," she grumbled under her breath.

"Oh, he'll notice." Pausing to fasten his tie, Reeve added, "And what brings you here anyway, Elena? Shouldn't you be meeting Tseng?"

The blond took her time in formulating her reply. "I figured, Sir, that you… might be a bit tied up in knots, so to speak, as to having to go without Yuffie, since you had been planning on attending together. I figured that you might need a hand."

Elena saw a hint of sadness flash across the man's face, but he masked it in an instant.

"She'll come around, Sir. She listens to your messages every night, you know." Elena gasped and covered her mouth as she realized what she had said.

Reeve smirked and raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know that?" he questioned, feeling an immeasurable amount of accomplishment. If Yuffie had listened to his messages at all, not to mention repeatedly every night… then he was getting somewhere.

"….I heard it from Tifa who heard it from Shera who heard it from one of the female crew members who bunks beneath Yuffie at night," Elena blurted out.

"I always knew women were a damned formidable force to reckon with. They have information access that could murder a man."

Looking extremely guilty, Elena moved towards the door. "I'd better be going. Tseng will be pacing if I don't get there soon," she explained lightly. "Hang in there, Sir. She'll come around."

Reeve waited until he heard the front door close, and then ran one hand through his hair. "One could only hope," he muttered to himself.

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	26. Chapter 26

AN: So I was going to make this chapter a lot longer... but I decided that I'd post the first third instead since I've been taking so long to update. Would you guys rather have lots of shorter chapters, or wait more days to have the full chapter all at once ? ...

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The hum of the bike gradually grew silent as it drawled to a stop, its two occupants pulled up at the side of the building. Cloud tugged his sunglasses off, bracing one leg against the ground as he turned his head to regard Yuffie.

"You're alright from here?" he questioned, and Yuffie unwrapped her arms from around his waist, hopping off from her side-saddle like position on the bike.

"You betcha. Thanks, rooster-head, for drivin me out here." Despite her bold statement, Cloud watched Yuffie brush the skirt of her long dress a bit nervously, staring warily at the building before her.

The Wutain ninja took a deep breath and swung her arms around, bouncing up and down a few times. "Alright! Here goes nothing. Wish me luck! I'm gonna go woo the crowd with the sheer awesomeness of my presence. Catcha later!"

Cloud waited until Yuffie had disappeared around the corner and out of sight to pull his goggles back over his eyes and speed off.

Yuffie heard the sound of the bike driving away and tried to resist the urge to turn head and tail and run back to catch up with Cloud before it was too late. Instead, she held her chin up high and strode towards the bold stairway that led into the enormous building before her.

Numerous cars were lined up along the drive in front of the entrance, and Yuffie glimpsed several impressively dressed individuals being helped out of the vehicles.

As absorbed as she was in observing what was going on around here, Yuffie forgot to concentrate on her steps; she tripped over her skirt and went sprawling forward. She smacked into someone's shoulder with an ungraceful yelp.

Straightening herself, she glanced up at whoever she had bumped into, only to find herself face-to-face with Rufus Shinra.

The blond man raised one eyebrow on his attractive face, eyeing her with a barely noticeable smirk.

"Gwaaa!" Yuffie exclaimed as she shot backwards, arms pinwheeling.

"I take it that Reeve doesn't know you're here," the man commented simply. Yuffie twiddled her fingers nervously under his perusal.

"Uhh, not exactly, I mean, not really, because well, I guess I kinda forgot to uhm well tell him that I was actually coming and err-" Yuffie cut off as Rufus held out his elbow, and she stared at him with wide and disbelieving eyes.

"I'll escort you to Reeve. If you keep going the way you are, I have a feeling you won't make it past the doorway without tripping upon some other innocent soul." His sardonic tone made Yuffie wonder if she should feel insulted.

Trying her best to gauge the man's sincerity, Yuffie stepped forward and cautiously linked her arm in his elbow. "Alrighty then. But only cause I'm wearin stinking girl shoes and cuz I've never been to something like this and I kinda think that I really might just get eaten alive in there if I go in alone. But you never heard that."

They were in the door and up an elevator before Yuffie had taken a breath, continuing to rattle off about so many different things that Rufus was beginning to doubt his intelligence and capability to follow conversation.

And then they were in the main room for the event, cameras flashing as they two strolled in together, making their way through the crowds.

Rufus was halted from going any further when he felt Yuffie freeze in her tracks. Her grip on his arm tightened painfully, fingers digging into his wrist. The man doubted that Yuffie realized her actions as she stared forward with a stricken expression.

Raising his vision, Rufus scanned those among them for what Yuffie was staring at so intently. He found Reeve Tuesti fifty yards away, leaning lightly against a refreshment table, one hand languidly resting on the table while his other hand held a glass of wine.

And at his side, with one feminine hand splayed out over his chest was Scarlet, who was clearly doing her best to sprawl herself out over the man. Rufus could see the calm demeanor on the outside of Reeve's person, which was doing a rough job of hiding his barely contained annoyance with the woman. He wondered if Yuffie could see that.

Involuntarily, Yuffie took a step backwards. Rufus stayed where he was, preventing her from going any further. "Oh. Oh. Well. Uhm. I…oh. Well, I guess I'd better be going, cuz, well, it looks like Reeve found someone else, and well, I guess he doesn't need two gorgeous women, right, cuz ones like, enough, and two is just well one too many and I think I'm gonna go now but thanks for walking me in uhm real super and gentlemanly yup thanks Ruffie uhm I'm gonna get going now and-"

Rufus leaned down so that his mouth was on level with her ear. "Hoh?" he intoned. "And here I thought you wouldn't run away. How disappointing. I was under the impression that an Avalanche member wouldn't admit defeat and flee."

Yuffie's mouth snapped shut, and her head whipped to stare at Rufus.

"Or am I wrong?"

The Wutain ninja took one quick glance at the sexy blond sprawled out over Reeve and instantly straightened her spine.

Before Yuffie could open her mouth and start a retort, Rufus cut in, "Good. Then let's go." This time, Yuffie's iron grip on his arm was a determined one as they strolled forward, the girl never realizing how her former enemy was now acting as her very own lifeline.

They approached the two figures at the table, and Yuffie tried not to cringe as their increased proximity allowed her to hear the shrill tone of Scarlet's voice as she stared intently up at Reeve.

"I believe I found something of yours that you seem to have misplaced, Reeve," Rufus interrupted in his voice that despite its lack of projection conveyed a sense of command.

Reeve turned with a greeting on his lips, only to have it die prematurely when his gaze fell upon Yuffie. Despite the great amount of shock he received from seeing she had still decided to come, he instantly noticed the exquisitely gorgeous gown she had donned.

Thankfully, this one was much different than the last. Its deep emerald skirts tumbled to the ground, though an attractive slit up one thigh revealed a tantalizing glimpse of slender legs. Thin straps rose from the bodice, around to the back where it scooped low to reveal one of Yuffie's alluring features – her lower back. The wide cut laced up with delicate black ties.

_Wait, _Reeve's thoughts interrupted him suddenly, _emerald green…?_

_"I suggest you wear the dark green for your tie and the vest," Elena stated _

_precisely._

When Reeve's gaze turned to find Elena halfway across the room, the blond had the sheer audacity to bat her eyelashes at him and fixate her most angelic and innocuous expression on her face.

Elena snickered once Reeve put his attention back on Yuffie, the woman purposefully catching Scarlet's eyes instead. _You just try looking good beside him, _she thought to herself. _Dark green and bright red? If you're going for the Christmas look. Ah, we are too brilliant for our own good._

Discreetly pulling out her phone, she pattered in a quick message before slipping it away and moving back to Tseng's side.

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At 7th Heaven, Tifa Lockhart removed her phone from her pocket and flipped it open to read the message displayed on it.

_Mission accomplished._

_- Elena  
_

_-------------_

_...so? what do ya think:) _

_----------_

This Infernal Halo: We will boost the Reeve from slight unhappiness from here on! Yay. Happy Reeve! Happy perverted Reeve! "Team Tuesti" is now my favorite phrase. lol.

Midnight1987: Have I mentioned I love fluff? ...which might not show because I seem to have put in quite a bit of angst. I'll be working on that.

Smiling cat: I'll admit I LOVE Yuffentine too. But just as you say, there is SO much more chemistry between Reeve and Yuffie! This will be progressing as a Reefie. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for giving me your input.

Crystal Royale: I'm glad that you think my story helps to make Reefie make sense. As I said above, I like the Yuffentine pairing, but the chemistry between Reeve and Yuffie is just toooo much fun. Haha, I'm glad I could make Yuffie spread some domestic violence. I have no idea if Elena's character would slap someone either... it just seemed right though. I think she's very loyal albeit a bit ditzy.

Cherry Blossoms River: I hope you continue too! Let me know what ya think.

MakotoJinx: Sorry this chappie was so short when you were lookin forward to it... but I figured it'd be better to post a bit than none at all!

Kohryu: Yes, it is true. So watch out for yourself! P We're like super information networks.

Jingyee: There is a lot more about the party in this next chapter... I just cut it off so I could post something. Hope you enjoy it.

Green Phoneix: Thank you! mwaha. But it's not poor reeve any more! Yay! And haha... about the bald spot...hehehe... thats a satisfying thought.

Vampyric Ninja: Lol. I enjoy lines like that. And it's so true in life too, women are so bad at passing things along. I have no idea what Shera's character was like, I honestly don't remember at all, so I'll just hope she'd be such a good mommy. I mean, if she was so adamant about checking the oxygen tanks, I'm sure she's a caring compassionate woman.

Simple Simp: It was you and me who were arguing about cats and dogs right? I thought i'd just let you know one of our 5 kitties is currently between my laptop and my chest snoring into my elbow. It's quite endearing. P I'm glad you like my story... you have inspired me to want to write sexy scenes now. Because yours are so sexy that it makes me want more sexy. haha.

super-calisto: I hope you like who she ends up with in the end. Glad to hear you've enjoyed it so far. Thanks for reading my ficcy!


	27. Chapter 27

AN: WARNING: This...will... eventually... when I feel like ending it... END AS A REEFIE. So if you don't want that pairing to end up together, stop reading it now, because I have warned you and stated it very very many times in very very many chapters. From here on it will be progressing as less of a love triangle and angling towards Reefieness.

And I apologize for the lack of updates. Since my last one, I'm over 3,000 miles away from the house I was in, on the other merry side of the US. And since the night I landed, my friends have decided that no - I don't need any time to myself! Wheeeee. oO

Sorry for any spelling/grammar errors... it is 4:34am my time, I have yet to go to sleep, and I'm PMSing. Cramps yuck.

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Scarlet's face turned sour not only as Reeve's attention was instantly fixated on Yuffie, but at the fact that the Wutain ninja was hooked onto Rufus' arm.

"Reeve doesn't need more than one woman on his arm, and as you can see, I'm here with him," Scarlet snapped, latching herself to the man who was blatantly ignoring her and instead fascinated by the transformation Yuffie had taken.

Rufus raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? I could have sworn I was in the room when the arrangements were made."

Scarlet flinched visibly. Yuffie began to fidget under Reeve's scrutiny, until finally, a wide grin broke out on the man's face. Moving away from Scarlet, Reeve held his arm out to Yuffie, lifting his gaze to smile his appreciation at Rufus.

Holding back a snicker, Yuffie did a mental victorious dance and stuck her tongue out at Scarlet from behind Reeve's shoulder while the men were occupied with each other. The saucy blond bristled under the taunt.

And then Yuffie noticed that Reeve's eyes were fixated heavily on her, and as her gaze rose once more to meet his eyes, she found herself stopping to stare at his chest. _What the hell? I'm wearing green. He's wearing green. That might be a bit, well, kinda, normal, almost, if it wasn't the same green. How the…?_

She was still puzzling out how they had unwittingly managed to match their clothes when she felt Reeve hook an arm around her waist and began leading her somewhere, though she wasn't paying any attention, instead muttering loudly enough for him to hear her.

"Alright, so Teef's helped me pick out the dress, but how did she manage to change your clothes? I mean, really, I swear, she's been with me almost all the time." Yuffie didn't even pause to take a breath as she tripped over one high heel; without missing a step, Reeve righted her and continued walking.

Yuffie continued to jabber mindlessly right up until the point when they reached an unoccupied balcony, and Reeve let go of her, backing up to lean against the railing and facing her languidly.

And suddenly the silence between them was overwhelming.

And awkward.

And weird.

And Yuffie really had no clue what to say, or what not to say, or what should or shouldn't be said, and if Reeve should say something, or if he shouldn't say something, and maybe this wasn't such a good idea and –

"…about the other night, when you saw-"

Suddenly, Yuffie snapped back into reality. Waving her hands in front of her, she backed up a few steps, shaking her head, making Reeve cut off.

"Uhh… really. It's fine. You don't need to apologize. Uhm. I got it. Okay? So err… don't worry about it… because… well, I figured… and you know… and I … cuz sometimes you know…"

Scratching the back of her head, Yuffie wondered if perhaps she should try to form a complete sentence. "Besides… I mean… It's not like there's any reason you shouldn't have a woman in your house. I mean, it's your house. And you."

Reeve raised an eyebrow, though no hint or trace of a smile was on his face at Yuffie's words. "You're the only woman I welcome into my house, Yuffie."

The ninja felt a childish glee at that fact, though she didn't know precisely why. "Good!" she exclaimed, and her eyes widened as she realized how that sounded. "I mean… cuz… well… just if you had other women in there you wouldn't have much time to pay any attention to me! And I'm the number one great ninja Yuffie Kisaragi… so that means that attention belongs to me and my greatness."

Rising up from his laid-back position against the balcony railing, Reeve took a single step forward. "There's two kinds of attention, Yuffie. Which one is it that you want?"

"Uhhh….." Yuffie felt her intelligence-o-meter steadily dropping as idiotic words continued to spill out of her mouth. "Two kinds of attention?"

"Two kinds," Reeve repeated. "The first kind is friendly attention, Yuffie. Sitting by the fire, chatting over how our lives are going, lending each other a hand from time to time."

Gulping, Yuffie tried not to take a step backwards. "And… the second kind?" she questioned. "Of attention?"

A slight grin appeared on Reeve's face, though he somehow managed to appear serious at the same time.

"The second kind," he took enough steps forward to close the distance so that Yuffie had to tilt her chin up or else be staring point-blank at the man's chest, "is this." And one arm came around her waist, pulling her against him, while the other hand lightly grasped her chin, angling it up so his mouth could fit over hers.

For the second time, Yuffie found herself being kissed – and quite thoroughly, at that – by Reeve, her head swimming over the man's words.

Although his facial hair chaffed against the soft skin of Yuffie's face, she was startled to discover that it was a pleasant feeling absent of discomfort, making a strange feeling grow in the pit of her stomach.

When he pulled away, Yuffie stared with widened eyes, entirely sure that the only thing keeping her on her feet was Reeve's hand still securely molded around her waist.

"And there you have it. Two kinds of attention," Reeve commented simply, stepping back and brushing the front of his jacket to straighten out the small rumples that had formed in it. "Well, we'd better get back in time for the festivities. We have a long night ahead of us."

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...reviews? whadya think? ... sorry for the shortness of the chapter - once again I was trying to get something posted. There's still more of the social event to go, I'm just working slowly. ;)


	28. Chapter 28

To make up for my lack of updates and tiny chapters... Here's the longest chappie yet.

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When he pulled away, Yuffie stared with widened eyes, entirely sure that the only thing keeping her on her feet was Reeve's hand still securely molded around her waist.

"And there you have it. Two kinds of attention," Reeve commented simply, stepping back and brushing the front of his jacket to straighten out the small rumples that had formed in it. "Well, we'd better get back in time for the festivities. We have a long night ahead of us."

By the time she had regained her senses, Reeve had made it to the balcony door. Clumsily trotting after him, Yuffie smacked into his back when the man made an abrupt halt, grumbling and wincing as her head thunked against one of Reeve's shoulder blade.

Pivoting so he faced her, Reeve raised one eyebrow and narrowed his eyes. Yuffie wasn't entirely sure how he managed to do both at the same time – wriggling her eyebrows, she experimentally tried to raise one and narrow her eyes at the same time. Much to her distress, the ninja couldn't mimic Reeve's expression.

"Yuffie…" Reeve started slowly, bringing his arms up to his chest to fold them over it. "Were those by chance weapons I felt tucked under your skirt?"

Arms pinwheeling, Yuffie flung herself backwards, raising her hands in front of her as if to shield herself. "YOU WERE GROPIN MY LEGS? PERVERT! SICKO! FONDLER! LEG GROPER! AHHH!"

He smirked. "What, was it so good that you didn't even notice where my hands were?"

"ACK! Where ELSE were your hands, then?"

"Answer the question. Exactly what did you bring hidden under your skirts?"

The stare-down continued.

Yuffie raised one eyebrow.

Reeve raised both.

Yuffie squinted her eyes and puckered her mouth, scrunching up her nose.

Reeve snorted.

Yuffie appeared offended at his attempt to hide laughter.

"Aww fine!" she relented, groaning despairingly as she swept her skirt to the side to reveal a strap on the inside of one thigh.

Several small ninja stars were attached to the strap, and Reeve put one hand over his face in exasperation at her hidden stock of weapons, simultaneously trying not to pay too much attention to the amount of skin she was exposing. Bad train of thought.

"Do I want to know where else you're hiding weapons?" Reeve questioned in a miffed voice, before his expression brightened. "Wait. Of course I want to know where else your weapons are hidden. You'll show me those too, right?"

Taking the appropriate steps forward, Yuffie smacked his arm.

"Sicko."

"I do what I can."

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Leaning against the balcony door with her ear to the glass, thankful for the curtain that cloaked her actions from the two figures on the outside, Elena tried desperately to hear the words of the conversation between Reeve and Yuffie.

Much to her despair, she could only hear the rumbling tones of Reeve's voice, and higher-pitched muffled exclaimations from Yuffie.

Sighing, Tseng frowned down at Elena. "Are you quite done?" he questioned in an irritated tone of voice.

"Shhh!! Can't you see I'm trying to listen, here?" Elena shot back in a whispered voice. "They were quiet for so long for a minute there! If only I could hearrrrrrrrr!"

One eye twitching, Tseng reached out and placed the palm of his hands against the balcony door on either side of Elena's head, effectively trapping her between him and the door. Suddenly lighting up her face with a blush, the blond woman turned her attention to Tseng.

"Is this truly more fun than being in my company? If so, I'd-"

The man was cut off as the door opened from the outside. In a heap, Tseng and Elena fell out of the door and at the feet of Reeve, who raised his eyebrows, and a very shocked Yuffie who quickly recovered and began snickering.

"By all means, the balcony is all yours. Though, Tseng, I would refrain from mauling your co-worker at public functions," Reeve commented, stepping over their tangled bodies and offering Yuffie a hand. "It's highly inappropriate."

As they left behind two very embarrassed executives, Reeve motioned for Yuffie to take his arm – Yuffie accepting the gesture more so that she wouldn't trip over her heels – and they strode back into the room, lively music nearly droned out by the numerous conversations strewn about the room.

"And exactly what did you plan on fighting with those weapons?" Reeve questioned lowly, continuing their previous conversation.

"Oh, I don't know," Yuffie replied nonchalantly. "Maybe super perverts who are intent on kissing innocent girls into senselessness so they can grope their legs!"

Reeve's smirk was blinding. "There you go again. I kissed you into senselessness, did I? My, aren't we handing out the complements tonight."

Stammering endlessly and blushing, Yuffie searched for a rebuttal. "I mean, err, like, anyone would uhm, well, get err, senseless? I mean it's not like, uhm…" Much to her relief, the Wutain girl was saved from further embarrassment as a red-headed, attractively lean male poked his head into their conversation.

"We've been looking for ya guys, yo. It's time to start seating for dinner," Reno commented languidly, tapping his long weapon against his shoulder in his trade-mark fashion.

A disgruntled Yuffie pointed to the rod. "And why does he get to carry a weapon around at this thing if I don't?" she whined, hand flailing up and down as it pointed.

Reno snorted. "'Cuz I'm protectin the President's ass, yo. So unless you've decided to become Tuesti's bodyguard…" Her face brightened at the thought of using such an excuse to haul around her Conformer.

"I don't think so," Reeve responded wryly.

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Some time later, they were settled at one of the many enormous dining tables, Yuffie squirming anxiously under such a formal setting, wriggling her legs underneath the table as discreetly as she could.

Sensing her distress, Reeve subtly reached over with one hand, placing it on her leg. Narrowing her eyes at him in a warning way – not forgetting his earlier case of leg gropage – Yuffie pursed her lips.

Winking at her, Reeve moved the hand further into her lap to grasp one of her hands and give it a quick squeeze before relinquishing his hold and returning to his plate of food.

Yuffie wondered exactly what people liked so much about dressing up all fancy and sitting at big rectangular tables to talk fancy-smanshy-talk over fancy-smanshy food. Reeve had explained that part of the funding for WRO came from such events, where people paid an utterly ridiculous amount for a seat at one of the tables.

Some weird kind of fund raising, for sure.

Not paying any heed to the conversation around her, Yuffie twirled the fork in her hands before plopping the piece of meat on the end into her mouth.

When Reeve ended the sentence he had been speaking to someone across the table by turning to pointedly gaze at Yuffie, she paused with the chunk of meat in one cheek to quirk out, "Eh?"

Grinning widely, Reeve stretched his arm out to gently brush a stray strand of hair behind Yuffie's ear. The gesture made her blush slightly and prettily, further forgetting the blob of food that had yet to make it past her tongue.

"I was introducing you to one of our supporters who asked who the lovely lady accompanying me was," Reeve explained to her, and Yuffie, despite her clumsiness and child-like nature, couldn't miss the gleam of pride that shone in Reeve's eyes. Was he really so proud of her being there all dressed up?

In a completely ungraceful manner, Yuffie gulped down the food and grinned toothily, scratching the back of her head. "Ah, nice to meetcha!" she exclaimed to the person sitting across from her.

The man grinned, and Reeve choked back a laugh. "Not him, the one next to him," he commented under his breath, just loud enough for Yuffie to hear.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand you too of course!" she amended quickly, hiding her hand under the table once she realized she had been waving the fork in it at the people across from her. "Whoopsie."

"Yuffie was recently in the wreckage of old towns helping repair houses and bring supplies to those still in need," Reeve began, and many of the male heads at the table turned to first examine the blushing, beautiful young woman who the WRO's Comissioner spoke of.

"She's done a lot of work personally, and I think she's nailed more boards together than over half of the male crew there. She's gone at it with an enthusiastic energy that makes WRO glad to have her as a part of us."

As he spoke, Reeve placed his hand on Yuffie's shoulder emphatically, and Yuffie couldn't help but lose track of a bit of what he was saying, instead staring at the strong edges of his face while he spoke to potential funders. How had Reeve known what she had been doing the days she had been with Cid on the airship?

_Of course, _Yuffie realized, Reeve must have been in contact with the crew on the ship with her.

By the time Reeve had finished what Yuffie was entirely sure had to have been a very exaggerated description of the manly labor she had contributed to in helping out families, nearly their entire table – every single male included – was staring fixatedly at Reeve and Yuffie.

They were all clearly impressed.

Rufus, close to the head of the table, grinned subtly, knowing very well that thanks to Kisaragi's appearance, that WRO would be raking in very many contributions from the fascinated male figures at the table who were entranced by what they viewed as a delicately beautiful woman's efforts.

If they only knew what a little hell-cat the ninja could be.

Throughout the dinner, Yuffie couldn't help but be awed by the vision of Reeve at work. The sheer vitality that was drawn out of the man's outgoing persona reeled in the attention of so many people that it was no short wonder that WRO had enough funds to keep it going.

Yuffie had seen Reeve depressed and feeling self-defeated during the crisis with the Deepgrounds, mourning over the mistakes Shinra had made in the human experimentation and the many lives that had been sacrificed because of it.

But to see him on-stage, so to speak, where he could be the commanding and astounding presence that was simply Reeve… was an entirely different feeling.

Of course, all of that admiration came to a reeling halt when, much to Yuffie's mortification, she was informed that she would be required to dance.

Not only with Reeve, but with any potential fund-givers who thought to have a waltz or two with her. Trying to bat her eyelashes, the ninja tried innocuously stating, "But my motion sickness, as sad as it is, prevents me from dancing. 'tis a sad story, I know."

Reeve eyed her with a sardonic gaze. "If dancing gave you motion sickness, you wouldn't be able to leap around swinging your arms like you always do whenever you win a battle. Nice try, but you're dancing."

And that was how Yuffie found herself cruelly conned into being swept into Reeve Tuesti's arms for her first dance. With a little of Reeve's persuasion that the dance steps were fluid and full of precision much like moving in a battle was, Yuffie was a bit more inclined to give it a shot.

"I've decided to take into consideration your… delicate tendancy to trip while dancing," Reeve mumbled into her ear, "and I've seen to it that you'll have a few willing… _allies _to practice with before you're sent off to the hoardes."

Yuffie didn't have any time to respond to his strange words before she was passed off to a smirking Reno. "Ain't that sweet – Tuesti's lookin out for ya," he commented, and Yuffie noted the absence of his weapon before placing her hand into his.

The ninja could've sworn Reno's hand slipped a little lower than was necessary during their dance – though she never noticed Reeve sending a sharp, pointed look at the red-head over her shoulder that made the man grin before moving his hand back into an entirely appropriate place – but aside from that, Yuffie was surprised to say that her former enemy was rather… careful with her.

Reno passed her on to Rude – to who Yuffie chattered to the entire time they danced as the enormous man hid his expression beneath his sunglasses aside from a slight frown that he always seemed to wear. Her consist blabbering was enough to distract her from the steps which she fell into without even realizing it.

From Rude it was Tseng, and Yuffie peered around awkwardly to find Elena in Reeve's arms. The blond was laughing, mirth lighting up her face as Reeve mumbled something to her. Tseng's grip was a little tight – Yuffie surmised that the tension in his hands came from the same feeling that made him grimace fixatedly on Reeve's arms around Elena.

"Is it true that when you took Aeris away in the helicopter from Midgar that one time when you kidnapped her right before Reno's bomb blew the smithereens out of the pillar supporting sector 7 that you completely bitch-slapped her so hard that you knocked her over?" Yuffie couldn't help but blurt out.

Tseng blinked in shock, his gaze actually retracting from Reeve and Elena to find a very potentially violent Yuffie staring up at him.

"'Cuz if so, I kinda just might have to kick you really really hard to make up for it. You aren't supposed to slap women, ya know. And make that a kick in a place that won't be particularly easy to disregard, cuz slappin a girl just aint right!"

Tseng was rescued in the nick of time by Rufus, who appeared entirely too amused as he put one hand on Yuffie's waist in an entirely business-like manner, taking her other, smaller hand in his.

"I'm terribly afraid to interrupt your well laid-out plans by suggesting you wait until after this formal event to plant your knee into my subordinate's groin," Shinra's young president commented evenly.

"So you mean it's alright with ya if I do it afterwards?" Yuffie brightened visibly. "Not that I needed yer permission. Hey, does that mean you don't approve of men slapping around woman?"

"I would hardly condone that."

Frowning, Yuffie tilted her head to the side, regarding him with a new light. "Hmm. Never woulda guessed… Aww. Who ever knew that Ruffie Shinra was actually a good person underneath all of that 'Unlike my father, I'll use fear to control the world!' gruff!" she remarked.

Rufus frowned down at her.

"Ooo. Ruffie. Like Yuffie. Hey, I kinda like it. Sounds like you were named after me, and as you should be, because I'm the single White Rose of Wutai, the-"

Yuffie's attention was reverted as she noticed that couples were once again switching partners. Figuring that if she was going to dance with all of the former Shinra executies, she might as well complete the list, Yuffie swept between Elena and Reeve and put one hand on a very surprised blond's waist.

"What do you think you're doing?" Elena laughed.

"Dancing, of course!" Yuffie chirped, Reeve and Rufus exchanging amused glances behind her back. Jokingly, Reeve extended his hands to Rufus in a mock invitation of an offer to dance – the blond man did not seem at all amused, and shot Tuesti a glance that clearly spoke so.

Reversing her steps so that she was waltzing in what would be the man's position, Yuffie awkwardly did her best to dance around while striking up conversation.

"So, how's the snogging been lately? Gotten in any good ones with Tsengy?" she questioned, itching to get some dirt on the couple. "Come on, spill! I mean, after all, the great ninja Yuffie did have a hand in shoving you two together, it's the least you could do."

During the many treks they had taken across continents in their AVALANCHE days, Yuffie had thought that her feet had hurt. The long night she experienced only proved that there was something that could make her feet hurt even worse; once again, the fault fell to the dreaded thing that women deemed high heels.

Reeve had been making a severe understatement when he had told her earlier upon leaving the balcony that they had a long night ahead of her.

Thusly, as the clock neared a dangerous two-in-the-morning position, a slumping Yuffie did more leaning against Reeve than holding onto his arm. An amused Elena held onto Tseng's arm across from them, though Yuffie's drooping eyes weren't seeing much.

"Would you like to come home with us?" Elena offered. "We have an extra room, and Reno's so lazy that he won't be making any racket until long after you'd wake up."

When Elena wasn't quite able to catch Yuffie's mumbled, exhausted response, Reeve laughed shortly before passing on the message. "She said she'll just spend the night at my house. It seems to be her home-away-from-from, anyway."

Grinning conspiratorily, Elena elbowed Tseng. "All right then… tell her to give me a call in the morning!"

Elena watched as Reeve tugged on Yuffie's arm, persuading her into walking towards where his car was parked. To his credit, the man had offered to carry her, but the resilient and stubborn ninja had proclaimed – in a muttered, barely audible voice – that she was perfectly able.

Once they were out of sight, Elena stole a glance at Tseng's face.

"Why do you look so distressed, Sir?" she questioned amiably. "You seemed to be eyeing Yuffie quite nervously ever since you danced with her…"

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hehe. reviews? let me know what ya think. I worked my tushie off to get this chappie written. :)


	29. Chapter 29

By the time Reeve had pulled up in front of his house, it was to the conclusion that he was very glad he had an automatic car. Due to the lightly snoring and subtly drooling Yuffie snoozing away in his lap, it would've been quite difficult to shift gears.

It took some careful maneuvering to get out of his seatbelt and open the door without jostling Yuffie, but somehow, Reeve managed to wriggle his way out, and from there it was a matter of removing the slight ninja from her sprawled out position amongst the car seats.

Thankful that she was so light in his arms, he gently nudged the car door closed with one knee while attempting to fumble in his coat pocket for the keys.

Reeve's feet were tired, and he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. But as Yuffie mumbled in her sleep and snuggled her head closer to his chest, the man decided he would go through the long night all over again just to get the results he had at hand.

Despite the fact that Reeve had neglected to leave a light on for himself, he easily navigated his way through his house until he was passing through the door of his bedroom. The clothes that he had been debating wearing were strewn across the floor on one side of the bed, but Reeve figured Yuffie really wouldn't care.

Bending over, he flicked aside the covers of his bed, placing Yuffie on the edge of the bed, regretful that he had to relinquish his hold. With a tender care, he crouched down, nimble fingers working at the straps of Yuffie's high heels until he could slip them off. Reeve was about to lazily place them beside the bed when he thought better of that idea.

Knowing Yuffie, she would likely roll out of bed in the morning and trip right over the shoes if he left them in the way. So he scooted them under the bed wisely.

Then it was a matter of whether or not to remove the miniature ninja stars from a very delicate place on Yuffie's leg. Reeve was entirely sure that the ninja would be cranky to wake up only to realize she had life-sized imprints of the weapons on her thighs, and yet, he was reluctant to remove them out of respect.

In the end, comfort won in Reeve's mind. He figured that after all, Yuffie exposed more of her thighs on a regular basis with the shorts she wore than he would be seeing anyways. He just hoped to god she was wearing underwear this time.

Though he was glad that it was dark in the room so that he didn't feel as if it was a violation to Yuffie's privacy, Reeve did feel a bite of regret that he was missing the opportunity to get a good look at her thighs while in that dress.

Mentally reprimanding himself for that thought, Reeve fumbled around on the inside of Yuffie's thigh until he found the buckle, undoing it easily and not being able to disregard the soft, smooth touch to Yuffie's skin as he did so. Wondering exactly what he had ever done to deserve this, he set the small ninja stars and the band on the nightstand beside the bed.

For a moment, he continued to kneel next to the bedside. The faint moonlight that peeked in through the gaps in the windows blinds allowed him to see gentle shadows that Yuffie's hair caused to cascade over her pale face.

Not being able to help himself, Reeve reached out with one hand and brushed a stray strand of hair off of Yuffie's forehead, fingertips lingering on her cheek for a stretched out moment.

Reluctantly he stood up and situated Yuffie so that she wouldn't tumble off of the edge of the bed in her sleep. With that, he pulled the blankets up and over her, tucking them around her gently.

Allowing himself to take one last look at her peaceful face, Reeve turned and strode out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him as he headed for the couch.

The first thing that Yuffie noticed was that there was something very large, soft, and comfortable clutched in her arms. The second thing was that whatever it was, it smelled very good in a comforting way that she didn't recognize as manly until she peeped open one eye.

Her vision was met with that of a dark blue pillow. Yuffie's legs and arms had spindled their way around the pillow, cuddling it ruthlessly. Taking one more whiff of the pillow, she had the irking sensation that she recognized that scent from somewhere.

Then Yuffie realized, belatedly, that she wasn't in her room at 7th Heaven. And, as she began to untangle herself from the blankets, she noticed that she was still wearing the dress from the party.

Despite the fact that it was nearly pitch black in the room aside from a faint tint of moonlight, Yuffie instantly recognized that she was in Reeve's bedroom. But where was he…?

She noticed what must have inevitably woken her the instant her feet hit the ground; her throat was incredibly dry – probably from dancing all night without pausing to take a drink – and she was just itching for a glass of water.

Tiptoeing her way out the bedroom door, Yuffie tried to remember the layout of Reeve's house with the ninja genius that was her mind. Thankfully her groggy brain knew where the kitchen was. She slipped a glass out of one cupboard, clicking the button on the fridge that poured out chilled water.

Guzzling down the entire glass in a completely Yuffie way, the ninja was glad to feel the tickling in her throat go away. That was when she realized that her heels were removed, and her aching feet were protesting greatly at being walked on again.

Groaning, she stumbled her way back into the living room, sighting the couch. Yuffie came to an abrupt conclusion; her feet were in pain, and the couch was closer than the bedroom.

Without a second thought she plunked down on the couch, only to find that it was a little warmer and bonier than she had remembered it.

Frowning, she squinted drowsily, making out Reeve's slumbering face. She supposed it made sense, for him to be sleeping on the couch since she had been taking up his bed, though she was so sleepy that she didn't make much sense at all.

"I, in my ninja awesomeness, am not moving from this couch, and if you want it to yourself then you had better move to your bed right now, cuz I'm going to proceed to pass out in about thirty seconds," Yuffie muttered sleepily to an unconscious Reeve.

When he didn't reply, she muttered a, "Fine then, don't move." And with that, Yuffie curled up around and on top of him, doing her best in sleep to drool a miniature puddle on his shirt.

Needless to say, Reeve was very startled when he woke up to find Yuffie's small body curled up on his chest, hands fisted in his shirt, legs tucked up against his sides. Moving one hand, he spread it out across her thin back.

That was when he noticed the wet spot on his shirt, directly below Yuffie's mouth. Grinning, he couldn't help but feel amused at her tendancy to drool in her sleep; while one might find it disgusting, Reeve thought it was actually quite endearing in an entirely Yuffie-typical way.

His gaze moved to the living rooms windows, where light was beginning to pour in through the shades. To his best guess, it was probably nearing eight in the morning.

Reeve was always an early waker. It was ingrained in his brain, the same as his excellent work ethic was; early rising, early to work. Even on weekends – which today was the start of – Reeve never neglected to get out of bed early.

But glancing down at the much smaller, feminine frame tucked into his, Reeve decided that a few more hours of sleep couldn't hurt.


	30. Chapter 30

AN: PLEASE READ.

This chapters main contentwas prompted by 2 things...

1) I am replaying FFVII, and I had Yuffie in my party when Aeris bit the dust, which made me think about her reaction ( shown below) innn this way. So yes, it really DID happen in FFVII... nya nya.

annd

2) ...Yuffie's dream sequence is actually very frightening when you're dreaming it. Haha. Prompted by my nightmares last night that had me sleeping with my lamp on - without them, though, I wouldn't have finished the chapter! So hooray!

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That few hours Reeve had decided to forego had transformed what had appeared to be the beginning of a sunny day into a rainy downpour.

The dark-haired man gazed down at Yuffie's slumbering face. For some reason, the peaceful expression her features had taken on reminded him of the girl's vulnerability, of how despite the fact that she might pass herself off as a materia-thieving mischief maker, Yuffie gets just as close – if not closer – to those around her as the rest of them.

Reeve remembered, then,watching through Cait Sith's eyes after Aeris had died. He remembers watching Yuffie pray in front of Aeris, hands folded, head bent, a rare sign of silence and maturity.

He remembers how after praying, Yuffie had turned to face Cloud, and tremors had slowly started to shake the petite girl's shoulders until finally she threw her head back to let out a heart-wrenching sob and flung herself into Cloud's arms bawling.

Reeve wished now, as he held her against his side, that he had been there when Aeris had died so he could've been the one to comfort Yuffie.

And he wondered, staring down at her, how anyone could mistake Yuffie for anything other than what she was – a young woman who was hopelessly loyal to her companions and friends. A young woman who grew more attached to those friends than anyone had guessed.

Shaking himself out of his reverie, Reeve bent down to bury his face in the hair on the top of Yuffie's head.

As much as he yearned to stay where he was, Reeve was fully aware of the fact that he had yet to change his clothes from the previous night. An evening full of dancing and being in a room crammed with people had left him sweating, and his hygienic senses weren't about to let him get away without a shower.

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Shera watched as Cid sipped on his cup of warm tea, noticing that the man was unusually quiet – for him, at least – and that he had a strange, thoughtful look on his face.

"Hey," Cid commented suddenly, "you don't think the damn brat really has it bad for Reeve, do you? I mean, shit, I always had it figured she was damned googly eyed over Vincent."

Wisely, Shera sipped on her own tea and left Cid to his musings, hiding a grin behind her cup.

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Reeve had only been standing in front of a still sleeping Yuffie, toweling his hair off and wondering whether or not to wake her, when she let out a blood-curdling high-pitched scream and sprang forward into a sitting position.

Although he wouldn't admit it, it had startled Reeve enough that he had jumped backwards, and when Yuffie fixed her eyes on him, his were extremely wide.

"Oh, thank GOD!" Flopping back against the arm rest, Yuffie sighed dramatically. "I was having this CRAZY dream! I was going out on a walk, but then it started getting dark, and... THEY started coming out!!"

Entirely unsure of what the hell Yuffie was talking about, Reeve reluctantly resumed toweling off his wet hair and waited for her to continue.

"So, like, I went back to the house! Which, I guess, was your house? Anyways. And RIGHT BEFORE I CLOSED THE DOOR, it came up to the door, and it ALMOST GOT IN!!! It almost got in, but I closed the door in its face! It was a Chihuahua, but it wasn't a Chihuahua! Get it?"

Speechless, Reeve could only stare.

Yuffie groaned and threw her arms up into the air. "They were disguised as Chihuahuas, but really, they were these crazy scary really creepy monsters! And when I bolted the door, it was pitch black outside, and you're not safe when it's dark! And they started circling the house, and you could tell where they were around the house because wherever they were, the theme song One Winged Angel played the loudest, and it would grow quieter when they went away! IT WAS SO CREEPY!"

Reeve wondered if this was a serious case of nightmares that, while it may seem frightening asleep, sounded purely ridiculous when awake.

"And they were circling the house, and I was waiting for them to breakin throughwindows, hearing the music fade and get louder again as they went around and around and around the house!!! Until finally, the music grew so loud, and they were at the window right in front of me, and...!"

Having finished sufficiently drying his hair, Reeve slung the towel around his neck. Yuffie pursed her lips thoughtfully.

"Wait… that sounds pretty… not scary, doesn't it?" she asked slowly, as if realizing that it sounded as ridiculous as it had.

"Uhh… maybe a little."

Reeve watched as Yuffie peered down at what she was wearing, tugging on the skirt with a frown, before telling her, "Your extra clothes are in the left side of my dresser, top shelf. You can go shower if you want – I ran you a hot bath either way."

The words had barely left his mouth before Yuffie was a blur of black hair and green clothing, flying towards the bathroom in a rush to get out of her uncomfortable dress and into something better.

Shaking his head and smiling widely, Reeve left to make something for breakfast. Or rather, he supposed, lunch, since he had allowed himself to sleep in until nearly noon.

When Yuffie reemerged from his bedroom, Reeve was surprised to find that while she was wearing a pair of her own shorts, she had donned another one of his shirts – this time, it was a black button-up one that she must have pulled out of his dresser.

Upon being asked why she wasn't wearing one of her own shirts, Yuffie shrugged and said simply, as if it were a completely normal thing, "I like yours better."

Though it startled him, to say the least, Reeve couldn't help but feel a fair amount of satisfaction at seeing Yuffie wearing his clothes. It was a good feeling – he wouldn't mind seeing her wearing his clothes any day.

Because they were his clothes, and seeing her small frame inside of them gave him a slight sense of posessiveness.

"So, what's up for today?" Yuffie questioned, hopping into a chair next to him at the table. Leaning back, Reeve regarded her with a grin.

"Well, if you could do anything you wanted to for the rest of the day, what would it be?" he asked in return, and Yuffie's face lit up with a toothy, devious smile as she realized it was an invitation.

"Welllll…. First…."

-----------------

soon to come - what Yuffie would do ona rainy day with Reeve.

... get your mind out of the gutter! OUT!


	31. Chapter 31

AN: You know, usually these notes are up here because they say something important. I keep getting reviews asking me questions that are answered up here in several chapters. I appreciate the time that goes into writing reviews, but I wish some people would READ ME!! ...

Vincentwill stillbe in the story. I can't resolve everything at once, so don't worry people, his side will get resolved too. There is still a lot more for me to do in this story and I'm not going to rush it, so hang in there.

-------------------------------------------

Rain was pouring outside, hitting the windowpanes – which Yuffie had opened halfway in her insistence that she loved the sound of the rain – but the two figures in the room were too busy looking into each other's eyes to pay much heed to the weather any more.

Reeve gazed down at Yuffie, his dark eyes intense, running one hand up and down Yuffie's arm.

"Are you sure about this?" he questioned, and she swallowed nervously.

"I'm sure."

"…Are you positive you're ready for this?"

Yuffie nodded slowly. "…I am. But… well.." A blush lit up her face, and she bashfully glanced to the side. "It's my first time… so… if I'm not that good at it.."

Reeve grinned at her. "Would it make you feel better if I said it's my first time too?"

Yuffie smacked his shoulder. "It is not your first time! We all know that. Jeeze, I don't want to know how many times or with how many women you've done this with before…"

Reeve tried not to smile too widely at the jealous tone he could detect in Yuffie's voice.

Narrowing her eyes in trepidation, Yuffie glanced somewhat timidly up at him, and Reeve added, "I'll be gentle."

In his other hand, Reeve ran his fingers over the small, square plastic wrapper and its contents, studying the blush on Yuffie's face and deciding that he very much liked the pink tint to her cheeks.

"Are you…" Yuffie started, frowning, "going to tell anyone… about this?"

"About what?" Reeve grinned, waiting for her to say out loud what they were about to do together.

"About… about this! What we're doing… together… you aren't going to tell anyone, will you?"

"I think they'd be glad to know we used protection," Reeve admonished, but also threw in, "but I won't tell anyone if you don't want them to know."

"Okay… just cuz… it'd be weird, if anyone found out, you know? I mean, what would they say?"

Shrugging, Reeve moved his hand and held the square plastic package out to Yuffie. "Want to help me put it on?"

Still frowning, perplexed, Yuffie tentatively took the wrapper from him. "I've never put one on someone before… so don't blame me if I'm not any good at it."

Yuffie tore open the corner of the chocolate pore-cleansing face masque, squeezing some out of the package before dabbing it onto Reeve's forehead. "It's supposed to protect your face from peeling, and it cleans out your pours too. I really dunno why girls use these so much, so you know, I just figured… maybe we could get one and try it out together."

Reeve watched Yuffie's face as she concentrated on applying the chocolate masque, wondering just when he had decided that he'd let Yuffie do whatever made her happy – even if it included pasting a girl's pore-cleaning masque on his skin.

Reaching out beside them and into a grocery bag, Reeve took out a second plastic bag full of the same chocolate masque and tore it open before painting it onto Yuffie's face.

The Wutain ninja scrunched her nose under his ministrations but still continued to return the favor, until both of their faces were coated in it.

When they were finished, they put the plastic bags the masques had come in aside and stared at each other, Yuffie wriggling her cheeks underneath the steadily drying cream. "This feels weird!"

"Who would've thought I'd get to see Yuffie Kisaragi wearing a facial mask," Reeve commented, leaning back and examining what he had to admit was an incredibly cute sight before him.

Shooting him a mellow glare, Yuffie crossed her arms. "Hey, remember you promised you wouldn't tell anyone. Besides! You said we could do whatever we wanted today, and it's raining outside, so I had to think of activities we could do inside."

Moving forward, Reeve planted a kiss on the tip of Yuffie's nose before she could finish the sentence, retracting back to his sitting position as she stared at him with somewhat of a surprised look on her face.

Suddenly, Yuffie's features contorted into a puzzled expression. "Waitta minute…" Crawling forward on her hands and knees, Yuffie stuck her face up next to Reeve's, and the man was speechless as she began to sniff his face.

"It really DOES smell like chocolate!" she exclaimed, and without warning, Yuffie clamped her hands on either side of Reeve's face to hold him still.

Her small pink tongue darted out to lick a spot of the face mask off of his cheek. Reeve couldn't help but stare incredulously as Yuffie leaned back on her heels, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Hrmm… kinda tastes funny though. I mean, kinda like chocolate, but not like chocolate!" As she began to eye him again, Reeve raised an eyebrow, wondering if she was planning on doing it again.

And that was how Reeve Tuesti found himself spending his Saturday evening watching three different versions of Godzilla, applying all sorts of different face masques they had picked up at the store – and he extracted his revenge by licking the strawberries and cream masque off of Yuffie's face in one spot – while both of them shoved their faces with the food they had bought.

But as Reeve started on his third chocolate-bar, and Yuffie peeled open her sixteenth, the man decided that there was no where else he would rather be on a Saturday than right where he was. Because anything was worth it – and enjoyable, to boot – when Yuffie was there.

Even when she insisted that they had to put cucumbers slices on their eyes and pull his bangs back with a headband so they wouldn't get into the masque.

------------

...snickers


	32. Chapter 32

_YES! IT IS AN UPDATE! _

_Please excuse the horrendous opening ( - due to helping write many college film class essays for a friend - ) and excuse the horridly cheesy filler chapter. But... here some questions are started to be answered, and more to be asked! DUN DUN DUN. ..._

--

Mise en scene. The representation of space, of depth, proximity, size and proportions of the place in a film, portrayed by the placement of objects.

Reeve decided that if his living room were to be in a movie at its current state, there would be no room for himself and Yuffie in the shot. The entire depth would be taken up by the remnants of the so-called meal they had devoured – if Reeve were to describe it, it would've rather been enough food to feed a hoarde of starved giant Amazon jungle pigs.

Empty cartons of Chinese food – a gallon of milk next to a gallon of orange juice – three bowls of popcorn – one of kettle corn – a few empty liters of soda – a wreckaged pile of sushi containers – Styrofoam packages that had held sliced barbecued pork… the list went on.

Glancing down at the petite framed girl who currently was sprawled out on her back, laying across his lap with her arms propping her head up as she stared at the ceiling, Reeve tried to fathom how on earth Yuffie could possibly consume so much food and remain so small.

Somewhere in the background, in the movie they had been watching, a man was writhing around on the table as blood spurted out from his stomach, right before an alien burst out of his stomach and through the skin, hissing through its mouthful of teeth.

Reeve cringed in distaste, while Yuffie burst into racuous, amused laughter, lifting one hand from behind her head to slap her knee repeatedly.

Being here with her like this made Reeve's mind conjure up thoughts that, at this present time, were too far into the unknown for him to want to ponder. It made him think about how much it would cost to be able to afford Yuffie's eating habits, how much it would cost to support her – if he they were to live together, what living together would mean…

It wasn't a distressing thought; it was an amusing one. Her antics, as always, made Reeve grin; her insane appetite was one of the many quirks that made him love who Yuffie was.

But with things being as tremulous as they had become, Reeve had no right or base at the present moment to assume anything like that might happen between him and Yuffie no matter how badly he hoped it would.

So instead, Reeve turned his chin down to find Yuffie's eyes, which were still excitably connected to the television screen in anticipation of the next bloodshed that might occur.

"Hey, Yuffie?" he asked tentatively, and she murmured some half-hearted response back that she was listening. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

His question, surprisingly, elicted a response. She turned her dark eyes until they were connected to his own, a slight frown marring her features. "Actually… I was going to leave in the morning. I have… something to take care of."

At his raised eyebrow, Yuffie fidgeted in his lap for a moment before going still, a stern, decisive expression on her face. "I have to talk to Vinnie."

Silence.

Reeve seemed to be staring almost into space, a frown pulling at his features, and Yuffie wondered if he even realized she was waiting for a response. When she didn't get one, she sighed heavily.

"Don't misunderstand me," she grumbled, shifting her gaze back to the television, her face morphed into a sullen and dissatisfied expression. "It's just… I have something to say to him, is all."

Suddenly finding herself frustrated, Yuffie decided that Reeve could come to whatever conclusion he wanted. But then, she thought about how hard he had been working in her absence, and wondered if he had been planning on spending the last day of his weekend with her.

"Are you…" she started, not sure how to finish, but Reeve suddenly appeared more alert, a distant smile on his lips.

"Ah, I have something to do tomorrow anyways. I was worried I might have to leave you to entertain yourself," he commented easily, and Yuffie puckered her lips, eyeing him strangely.

"You ain't workin on the weekends too, are ya?" she asked incredulously.

Shaking his head, Reeve raised his eyes back to the television. "No. Rufus just owes me a favor."

Although Yuffie continued to peer up at him with curiosity filled eyes, the man said nothing more, contenting himself with feigning interest in the movie. Frowning, puckering her lips in disgruntled disfiguration, Yuffie wondered why he was suddenly avoiding the topic.

"Owes you a favor? That old grumpy pretty boy? Since when did he ever do you any favors?" Yuffie grumbled.

A faint, somehow chiding smile appeared on Reeve's features, then. "You shouldn't brush him off as that. He did help you out at our event."

Snorting, Yuffie tossed her head and stared at the television screen. "Only 'cuz I was so amazingly stunning that of course any man would want me on his arm! I mean, come on, I am a princess after all! Even a guy who's more girly than me should recognize that."

Resigning himself to shaking his head, Reeve subtly studied Yuffie's features as she tilted her head to the side, her expression as open and telling as ever.

At least, until her face scrunched up with realization.

"Hey! You're avoiding the subject, aren't ya? So what's the favor Mr.Shinra-man owes you? Huh? What, you can't tell me?" Glowering up at him, she jabbed a finger at his nose. "Jeeze! And after I tell you everything I'm doing. But nooo. You just keep yours a secret, why dontcha!"

"Okay."

"Jerk."

"I do what I can."

"Have I ever told you how much I hate your stinky, robotic-cat obsessed, long-haired psychotic arse?"

"I love you too, Yuffie."

"Hmph."

"You're so cute when you pout."

The fairly silent room was instantly filled with the sound of crunching carbohydrates as Yuffie did her best to smother Reeve with a half-empty bag of tortia chips.

Said bag of tortia chips somehow ended up as a makeshift pillow a few hours later as the television glowed against the pitch black intruding from the open windows. An empty gallon of milk tumbled across the room as Yuffie's foot twitched in her sleep, sending the carton sprawling.

Unconscious from sleep rather than suffocation via chip bag, Reeve's head lolled to the side, the tiny, slender elbow tucked under his chin not bothering him in the slightest.

Somehow they had ended up as such, with Reeve asleep on his back, Yuffie sprawled on top of him – as she seemed to often happen to do – at a strange forty-five degree angle, her other arm tucked into his armpit, one leg curled under one of his larger knees, the other still twitching randomly.

When they woke up the next morning, neither would know who had fallen asleep first, nor how Yuffie had managed to become so comfortably tucked against Reeve, or how the man's hand had managed to find its way to be loosely curled around the girl's petite waist.

But they sure would notice the stench of the leftover milk in the cartons that they had left sitting in the room, as well as the neglected raw sushi they had forgotten about in one corner.

--

_What will Yuffie say to Vincent? What is the "favor" Rufus is doing for Reeve (sexual pun not intended) ? Who will finally clean up the milk cartons? Find out next time, on what will hopefully be a chapter with a little more plot and a few more pages!! _


	33. Chapter 33

_**So, **this didn't come out quite as I had **imagined **it, but between losing my computer from the move and having a **horrendous** bout of writer's block, I've pretty much lost where the hell I'm going with this story._

_So excuse me while I try my best to get back on **track **and figure out how to finish this story, though I suspect there'll be quite a few more chapters to come._

--

Perhaps the insane cackling that was currently being emitted from Yuffie's mouth should've woken Reeve up. Unfortunately for his walls, it didn't.

Yuffie, on the other hand, was wondering why she had never discovered that wasabi could make such a wonderful tool for writing on said walls, which were currently being covered in messy, gigantic, green, mushy handwriting. Well, more like hand-painting.

Finishing off the exclamation point with a satisfied nod, Yuffie chuckled over her awesome ninja skills that allowed her to graffiti Reeve's wall while he slept unwittingly only a few feet away.

Deciding that it was a wonderful surprise to leave him for a Sunday morning, Yuffie skipped out through the front door.

--

Three things became very apparent that day.

One: Vincent Valentine could be a very difficult and aggravating person to track down.

Two: Subtlety was not Yuffie's forte. (Though by now, anyone who had not caught onto this would be deemed daft.)

Three: Vincent, being the perceptive person he was, had been able to tell by Yuffie's body language what she was telling him better than he would have by her jumbled, blunt words.

When the frustrated, exhausted ninja finally found him, it was cold and dark outside, and after spending a long day sweeping the freakin' continent for him, all Yuffie could do at first was plop down next to him with her back to his own.

"Jeeze, Vinnie, you can be one hell of a hard person to find, you know that?" she wheezed out exaggeratedly, pulling her knees up and swinging her arms over them, propping her chin up on top.

"Hello, Yuffie," he replied evenly, paying no heed to her comment, though she never expected a direct reply of any sorts from him to start out with.

"So, ya know, I pretty much had this revelation!" Yuffie declared, "so I figured I'd share it with ya. You know, just in case."

Yuffie having a revelation was generally an occurrence that sent anyone running for the hills. Unfortunately, Vincent had already done so, so he wasn't left with much of a choice but to hope that he wouldn't be a victim of whatever scheme she had come up with now.

Then again, he was surprised that she had come to talk to him of her own volition after the ending of their last unfortunate encounter, so he remained where he was.

"So, I was thinking," – another dangerous thing for Yuffie to be doing- "and I realized, you can pretty much count on one hand all the people who I would die for." As if making sure she hadn't been mistaken, Yuffie tapped out her fingers, frowning. "Well, okay, maybe two hands. But no toes."

Wondering exactly where she was going with this, Vincent, as always, kept silent.

"Annnd, you, being the gloomy bastard you are, happen to be one of them!" Yuffie chirped, as if it were the most simple thing in the world. "Maybe the pinky. Or, the middle finger. Or maybe the pointer… hmm…"

He could feel her, with her back pressed against his own, wriggling her arms about as she pondered her hands.

"But if you tell anyone I said that anyone gets counted on any of those fingers, I just might have to castrate you," she threatened in a nonchalant voice, not so subtly telling him that the petite ninja didn't want it to be revealed to the world that she actually cared enough about people to make that kind of a statement.

The reason she decided to tell him was not beyond her as she jumped to her feet, brushing off her backside and giving him a peculiar stare.

"Well, I'm going to _Reeve's _house now," she stated, waiting for it to sink it, her lack of subtlety amazing, though he would bet anything that Yuffie thought she was being quite subtle indeed.

"Ya know where to find me." Yuffie, however, was momentarily stopped from leaving as one long clawed finger was set upon her forearm.

She stared at him inquisitively for a moment, then back down at the claw before a grin broke out on her face. "See ya, Vinnie," she commented easily, knowing, despite her awful perception skills, what he had been trying to say without ever saying it at all.

_You get counted on one of my fingers as well._

Just like, by her attempted vague comment of Reeve, Vincent had understood clearly what Yuffie had been trying to tell him.

--

When Yuffie entered Reeve's house later that evening, wondering why the man never bothered to lock his door, the first thing she heard was his loud sneeze. Cackling insanely, Yuffie wondered if his task of cleaning up her scrawled wasabi wall-message was the cause of his sneezing.

But then she tripped over something, and biting out a curse, she went to kick the living bejeebus out of whatever it was.

Instead, Yuffie stared.

And stared.

And wondered what the hell her black cat was doing in Reeve's house, and how it had gotten there in the first place. A mewling caught her attention, and she turned to see one of her calico cats poking its head through the kitchen doorway.

"Scmhoo!!" she called out, heaving the black kitten up into one hand, and tackling the other with an enthusiastic cry of "Farfel!" and she grabbed the other.

Reeve, startled by the ruckus, entered the room, looking startled. "Don't tell me your cats names are honestly Scmhoo and Farfel," he questioned, feeling sorry for the poor animals in question because the knew the answer already.

"How'd they get here?!" Yuffie questioned excitedly, mystified.

Slowly, Reeve smiled, making Yuffie – though she would never admit it – wonder why her pulse quickened a bit at that languid grin. "I told you," he said matter-of-factly, "Rufus owed me a favor."

As always, it took Yuffie a while to connect the dots.

When she did, the girl gaped at him like a fish. "You made him fly you to get my cats?!"

Another meow sent Yuffie screaming "Lola!" and flying at the next victim of her over enthusiastic attentions.

Leaning against the door frame, folding his arms in front of him and relieved that rather than seeming offended, Yuffie appeared to be utterly ecstatic. Taking a deep breath, he mentally prepared himself for a response he might not like. "I figured if you were going to be staying here longer, you might want a few of your cats with you."

Yuffie froze, raising her head slowly to stare at him, squinting as if she was wondering if she had understood that statement correctly. Reeve had to try his damnest not to fidget nervously.

But the petite ninja simply gathered her cats in her arms, exclaiming to them in response, "Come on, my followers! We have a house to take over!"

He watched her scamper through the living room, deciding that was about as good of an answer as he was ever going to get, grinning and wondering how long it would take her to count exactly how many of her cats he had brought along with him.

Needless to say, Rufus hadn't particularly enjoyed the ride.


End file.
